


Barely Passing

by twelfth_hour



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-18 17:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 106,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twelfth_hour/pseuds/twelfth_hour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint needs a tutor for chemistry. It’s unclear if Tony was the best choice or not. Now there’s six of them, and there’s a certain kind of chemistry between them all—a kind that’s not found in a textbook. High School/Community Inspired!AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Study in Team Building

It was originally just the two of them.

Tony was acing Coulson’s chemistry class. He was a cocky kid, always sat through Coulson’s lectures with a dramatically bored expression on his face. He would interrupt every few seconds to correct something, and soon Coulson would get sick of it and let him come up to the front of the class and teach it himself. Tony didn’t mind; he liked the attention. He would smirk and spring up from his desk, clapping his hands together and starting off with “let me teach you actual chemistry…”

Clint…wasn’t doing so well. The kid tried his hardest to focus and study and take good notes, but no matter what he did, he barely passed the pop quizzes and assessments. Clint was sure of himself—not like Tony—that he could manage a passing grade by the end of year. A passing grade was all he wanted at this point.

So Coulson assigned Tony to tutor Clint.

Coulson liked Clint; he kept to himself, rarely acted out.

Coulson didn’t like Tony; he acted like he ran the place like he spent four years slaving over books and God knows how much coffee trying to earn a teaching degree. So maybe they could learn something from each other. Clint could learn the actual material, and Tony could learn how to shut up.

The tutoring sessions were every Tuesday and Thursday, the third table in the library behind the nonfiction section. The table was never filled, and it was out of sight, that’s how Tony liked it—he had a reputation to maintain. So now it’s Tuesday after school and Tony just finished getting that redhead from third period History’s number and was feeling rather proud of himself. He sauntered into the library, shooting the librarian a smile and a wink, over to the third table behind the nonfiction section.

“You’re late.”

Tony met Clint’s aggravated gaze, tilting his head in confusion.

“How am I late? It’s—”

“—it’s three-thirty and you were supposed to be here at three, now can we just get this over with?”

Tony pulled out a wooden chair opposite of Clint, plopping down into it. “Well excuse me for being fashionably late.”

“I don’t care what kind of late this is, you’re still late, I just wanna pass chemistry.” Clint threw his chemistry textbook on the table with a loud thud, making Tony flinch. “Tutor me.”

Tony opened his mouth to speak, promptly closing it, his eyes darting back to Clint. “How about I just give you my notes and we call it a day? Plus I could probably buy every test answer for the next semester—”

“You can’t flaunt your money like that forever, Stark.” Tony cursed under his breath, pasting on a smile and turning around in his chair. “Natasha! So good to see you. How are you, darling?”

Clint’s forehead hit the table.

Natasha was glaring from behind a book the next table over, her feet perched up on the wooden surface, backpack slung over the back of her chair. “I’m fine, not that it matters to you. Maybe you should actually tutor the boy like you promised Coulson.” She closed her book and set it down on the table. Tony shrugged, “This is my method of tutoring. It’s quite effective, ask the last kid I tutored. He’s passing, right? Of course he is. Maybe we should talk more about how great I am over dinner, say seven?”

Clint lifted his head, “Are you two…?”

“God no.” Natasha said, her voice heavy with disgust. She dropped her feet off the table and pulled her chair over to sit in between. “He’s been trying for years, though.”

“You have to admit I was close a few times.” Tony chirped, leaning back in his chair.

Natasha snorted, “Right, you keep thinking that.” She turned to look at Clint, who was quietly eavesdropping, “So, I’m assuming you’re not having much luck with chemistry. Clint, right?” Clint nodded. Natasha reached over to grab his textbook flipping through some of the pages, “You’re not gonna get anywhere with this guy, so let me help you, what unit are you—”

“Hey, woah there,” Tony said, snapping forward with a finger pointed at Natasha. “He’s my responsibility, stand down, spider.”

Natasha smirked, “Are you actually accepting responsibility? Are you sure you’re Tony Stark?”

“Uh, I don’t mind of Natasha helps—”

“I can tutor this kid just fine, mind your own business.”

“I’m right here…”

“You’d rather go flirt with girls than help him, which, by the way, I saw you go after that Emma Frost girl, that’s a new low for you—”

“Guys…”

“Oh, you actually care that I flirt with other girls? I knew I’d finally win you over. So are we on for dinner then?”

“Oh bite me—”

“When and where?”

“GUYS.”

Tony and Natasha had Clint’s full attention now, his open palms raised to settle them down. He sighed, “How about we just study together? Like, all three of us?” He retrieved his book from Natasha’s clenched fists, stuffing it into his bag. “But we’re out of time.” He stood up, “See you guys Thursday.” And with that, he was gone.

Tony and Natasha were silent, glancing at each other. “You’re still an awful tutor.” Natasha muttered, standing up from her chair and returning to her table. Tony leaned back in his chair, hooking his hands behind his head, a smirk dripping on his lips, “She wants me.”

He was knocked out his seat by a flying hardback copy of Jane Eyre.

XXXX

Bruce came next.

Bruce was a scrawny kid in Natasha’s English class, who she occasionally talked to. He was one of the smartest kids she knew, and he also had pretty serious anger issues. She was the one to extend the invitation to join their little study group.

It started that Thursday with a few girls chatting up about Tony Stark’s wicked black eye, and Natasha trying to choke down laughter.

“Don’t tell me you had something to do with that…” Bruce sighed. He could just tell this had Natasha written all over it.

Natasha shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “He was being an idiot, so I threw a book at him. It was self-defense, really.”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, “That doesn’t make it alright to throw things, Natasha. Since when did you and Tony hang out anyway?”

“We don’t. We have a study group…kind of.”

“Kind of?” Natasha shrugged, leaning back over her desk. “I don’t quite know what to call it. Tony’s been assigned to tutor this kid, Clint, in chemistry, and he wasn’t doing a very good job, so I stepped in, and now we’re a study group…kind of.” She looked at Bruce, “You know, you should join us. You’re a master at chemistry, I’m pretty sure you’re better than Tony, but you’re modest about your smarts.”

Bruce blinked, glancing back at his English worksheet, then back to Natasha. “Would…it be alright? If I joined?”

Natasha offered him a half smile, “I don’t see an issue. If the other two have one, I’ve got a couple Harry Potter books in my bag ready to chuck.” The bell screeched, the sound of rustling bags and papers filling the air, most students making a beeline for the door. Natasha rose from her seat, “We meet at the third table behind the nonfiction section every Tuesday and Thursday after school. There’s a seat with your name on it.” And with that, she left the classroom, leaving Bruce to quietly pack up his things.

“Third table, huh…” He said, swinging his bag over his shoulder.

So around a quarter to four he made an appearance at the third table behind the nonfiction section. When he arrived, Tony and Natasha were in the middle of an argument, with Clint trying to get them back on topic. He assumed this would happen a lot.

“Um…hi?”

The bickering came to a halt, three pairs of eyes darting up at him. “Bruce!” Natasha said cheerfully, tapping her pencil on the table in front of the seat across from her. “Take a seat, we’re in the middle of a riveting debate about Boyle’s law.”

“Natasha, I already didn’t want you to join, you can’t just invite people.” Tony said, throwing his head back with a sigh.

“You realize Bruce Banner is better than you when it comes to academics, right?” Clint spoke up. “Take a seat, man.”

“Not you too, Clint!” Tony whined. Bruce hesitantly took a seat, pulling out his own chemistry textbook. “Boyle’s law, huh?” Bruce said, ignoring Tony’s comment. He turned to Clint, “Boyle’s law is pretty much just when the pressure and volume of a given mass of confined gas is constant as long as the temperature is constant. The law was mostly made based on the kinetic theory of gases, which is just the theory that the atoms in a gas have a random line of motion moving at fast speeds and constantly hitting each other. Constant is the key.”

Three faces were on him now, all of them dripping in amazement towards Bruce’s knowledge.

“Do you regret what you said now, Stark?” Clint smirked, turning to Bruce. “Please, stay, that’s the most information I’ve heard all day.”

Bruce shrugged, “I mean, all it takes is a few good memorizing techniques and chemistry is easy.”

“What else is in that noggin of yours?” Tony wondered aloud, tapping his knuckles against Bruce’s scalp. “I have half a mind to take it.”

“Well, you do have half a mind.” Natasha quipped. Bruce couldn’t help but smile at Tony growling and Clint laughing.

Maybe he finally found a group of people he could call his friends.

XXXX

“I wish to join your study group, Banner.”

Bruce was approached right before sixth period Calculus on Tuesday. This guy, Thor, he’s a foreign exchange student from some place in Europe, but Bruce was positive he came from outer space. Thor was huge, and he could eat the whole cafeteria if he really wanted to. Of course he was on the football team, but he didn’t really seem to know how the game was actually played, but he was tall and built, so that speed bump was ignored.

Bruce shut his locker, raising a brow. “How do you know about my study group?”

“I hear Stark and Lady Romanoff discussing it during study hall. I, too, struggle in that class. I require assistance.”

Bruce sighed, rolling his eyes. Was this guy ever gonna ditch the medieval speak and join the rest of them in the real world? “Okay, okay, fine. On one condition.”

“Splendid! What is your request?”

“You tell the football team to lay off me, alright? I’m not writing twenty English essays.” Bruce said, standing up straight, keeping eye contact. Thor nodded, clapping a large hand onto Bruce’s shoulder. “You have my word, Banner. Now, where does this group meet?”

“We meet in the library after school at the third table behind the nonfiction section every Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re late, you’re out.”

“Agreed! I will see you all there!” And with that, Thor was swept away by some more of his football friends, leaving Bruce filled with regret. He hiked his backpack on his shoulder, walking down the hallway to Calculus.

“What a stupid decision.”

Bruce stopped, turning around, a thin frame with raven hair leaning against the row of lockers. That was Loki, Thor’s brother. He was rarely seen socializing, and was famous for the pranks he would pull on the student body and staff alike. The previous school year, he released a total of fifteen penguins in the school—where he got the penguins was a mystery.

“Pardon?” Bruce said. He was probably going to regret this, too.

“Agreeing to let my buffoon of a brother join your little group.”

“Don’t tell me you want in too.”

Loki snorted, “Oh please. Like I would ask for help from you inferior beings.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “Where are you going with this, Loki?”

“I’m just warning you that he’s not as harmless as he seems. He’s got secrets.” His grin was dangerous. “Secrets that could affect you all.”

Bruce sighed, “Are we done here? I don’t wanna be late for class.”

Loki shrugged, “Yes, we’re done. Keep that in mind, will you?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Bruce was already halfway down the hall, his classroom up ahead. Loki was probably tricking him, like he does to everyone. But maybe it would be a wise choice to not completely take Loki’s word as false.

XXXX

Now something different happened on that Tuesday.

The quartet came to the library, spent the first half talking, and that’s when Thor showed up.

“Greetings!” Thor boomed, catching them all off guard.

Tony’s eyes panned their table. “I see a pattern here. Natasha brought Bruce, which means you,” he pointed to Bruce, “brought this one.”

Bruce hunched over in his seat, “Guilty.”

“I have brought sustenance and a friend if you do not mind.” He slammed a few boxes of PopTarts on the wooden table. Clint immediately ripped open one of the packs and started munching away.

“Oh yeah, that’s fine, just invite the whole fucking school.” Tony muttered, promptly being poked with the eraser of Natasha’s pencil.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to kind of…show up. I wanted to make sure Thor wasn’t getting dragged into something dangerous.”

The friend of Thor’s was Steve Rogers, captain of the football team and unintentional chick magnet. He was the definition of a perfect gentleman. He seemed a little foggy about technology—he was constantly teased by his football buddies for not knowing how to work an iPod—so he just stuck to football and charity work and being Mother fucking Theresa.

There was silence between them all, Clint working on his PopTarts, Bruce flipping through his textbook, but Tony. Tony was just watching Steve.

“Might as well join us.” Tony said, turning back around in his seat, greeted by three other confused faces. “What? He walked all the way across the campus, no point in shooing him away.” He casually reached for a box of PopTarts. “Thanks for the…uh, what did you call it? Sustenance? Yeah, thanks for the sustenance.”

As Steve and Thor went to grab chairs from the next table over, Natasha was just looking at Tony. There was something different alright, something different about him, she could feel it, she—

“Oh my God.”

What was different this time was this was the first new member that Tony didn’t have a snarky comment for. Someone had actually shut Tony Stark up. The three boys looked at her.

“You ok, Nat?” Clint asked.

Natasha nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just…I didn’t expect that.”

“Usually one would ask if they could bring someone. But hey, Thor’s from the distant planet of Weird, so just let it be.” Bruce said. The three boys dove back into their previous discussion about whether or not Mrs. Hill was attractive, Thor and Steve giving their input whenever they could. They didn’t do that much studying; none them really complained.

Once everyone was leaving the library, Tony tapped Natasha on the shoulder. “Knowing you, you meant something totally different.”

Natasha batted her lashes, “Whatever do you mean, Anthony?”

“Cut the crap. What weren’t you expecting?”

Natasha smiled, “You’ll have to figure it out for yourself.” She started walking away, calling over her shoulder, “Just know that your secret’s safe with me.”

Tony watched her walk away, his face scrunched up in confusion. “That’d be much more reassuring if I knew what my secret was.” He said to himself. A curvy brunette walked past him, making him completely forget Natasha’s little game as he jogged to catch up with her.

XXXX

“So how’s the tutoring coming, Clint?” Clint stopped in front of Coulson’s desk after the bell had rang, Coulson staring at him with an unreadable blank face. Clint stuffed his hands in his pockets, becoming progressively uncomfortable. “It’s going pretty good, I guess. We recruited more people to our little group, they’ve been helping me a lot.”

“Stark just wasn’t doing it, was he? I knew I shouldn’t have assigned him to you, he’s got an attitude. I’ll find you a new tutor—”

“Woah, Mr. Coulson,” Clint interrupted. “Tony’s doing fine. Sure, he acts like a cocky jerk, but he knows his stuff.”

Coulson sighed, resting his elbows on his desk. “Do you think you’ll be set for the midterm?”

Clint shrugged, “Hopefully by then, yeah.”

“Good, then let’s make this interesting. If you get an 90% or higher on the midterm, I’ll write you a glowing recommendation letter to any college of your choice.”

Clint’s mouth dropped open, “You’d really do that?”

Coulson nodded, “I have a strong feeling you won’t disappoint me. I know you’re going places with your archery, but this little extra push could probably get you a long way.”

Clint reached out for Coulson’s hand, shaking it rapidly, stammering thank you’s and almost vomiting gratitude. “You won’t be disappointed, Coulson.” Clint said, jogging out of the classroom, sporting a grin so wide you’d think his face would’ve ripped by now. He had to tell the guys—they had a lot of work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	2. A Study in Spotlights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor asks the study group to come see his dance recital, but a slight problem requires their attendance--and much more.

So it was a summer-to-fall transition type of day, where the sun was a little bit lower, and the world was just quiet and warm. It wasn’t quite the time for shorts, but it wasn’t quite the time for sweaters, one of those teasing days where you were ready to curl up with pumpkin flavored goodies and dive into a book.

In this case, a chemistry book.

It was a normal Tuesday, the six people meeting in the library behind the nonfiction section, their books and pens and pencils sitting idle for the first half, dedicated to talking about anything in general.

Then Thor made an outlandish request because he’s outlandish because he’s Thor.

“Friends, I wish for your attendance at my upcoming dance recital.”

The talking ceased, five confused faces staring back at him. The silence was broken by those same five faces breaking out into laughter.

“Please, for the love of God, tell me you’re not serious,” Clint managed to say through his chortling, “I can’t breathe!”

Thor blinked at them innocently. “I’m very serious.”

“Stop, the look on your face, it’s killing me!” Tony crowed, leaning back in his chair with his arms around his stomach.

Even Steve was chuckling, “You’re full of surprises, Thor. What dances could you possibly participate in?”

“I am mostly a ballet dancer, but I have recently taken a liking to hip hop dancing.”

Now it was Natasha’s turn to lose composure. “Hip hop dancing? Thor, this has to be a joke. Are you joking?”

Bruce, who was currently laughing into his palms, cleared his throat and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. “Okay, where is this dance recital at?”

“In the auditorium at seven o’ clock.”

Tony raised a finger, “See, Thor, the thing is—”

“We’ll be there.”

Tony looked at Steve, ready to argue, but was swiftly punched in the arm by Natasha. “Ow, Jesus, is no one gonna let me talk?”

“No.” The redhead answered immediately, smiling at Thor. “Break a leg, Thor.”

“Literally, we don’t want you to embarrass yourse—Ow! Stop hitting me!”

“Excellent!” Thor rose from his seat, gathering his items. “I apologize, but I must leave early. We have a dress rehearsal for tonight’s affair. I hope to see you all there!”

The five chimed their goodbyes as Thor exited the library, and the second the blond was gone, Clint was back to laughing.

“This guy’s built like a house, is he really gonna be prancing on the stage like a loon?” He said.

“I’m really interested to see this, I was wondering why he’d always miss football practice…” Steve pondered, “What if he’s really good?”

“Or worse, what if he’s really bad?” Bruce said.

“Either way, he’ll be on that stage in a leotard, it’s a lose-lose situation.” Tony shrugged, resting his elbows on the wood surface of the table. “We need to convince him to not go through with this stupid recital.”

“Oh, no, he’s doing this.” Clint protested. “He is doing this, we are going, and we are filming it. Like hell I am walking out of there without documentation of this event.”

“Do we get him flowers?” Natasha inquired.

“I feel like we should get him testosterone tablets or something,” Tony said,  “Because after he’s done and the curtain falls, there’s no way in hell he’s getting up from that one.”

That earned him another punch to the arm.

Steve got up from his seat, “I gotta go, I’ll meet you guys back here at seven. And Tony, if you come back with testosterone pills, there’s gonna be problems.” And with that, he was gone.

Tony sighed, “Okay, we might as well do some studying. I don’t think I can handle more bruises.”

“Good idea.” Natasha smirked, opening her textbook. “Alright, Quantum Numbers time!”

“Crap, I forgot my book in my locker.” Bruce said, “I’ll be right back.” He got up and jogged out of the library into the vacant hallways, a heavy silence pressing against his ears as he made his way up the nearest flight of stairs to his locker on the second floor. He twisted the combination, ripping off the lock and opening the metal door, fishing his book out of a sea of loose papers and old quizzes, shutting his locker and running face first into the last person he wanted to see.

“Oh, good afternoon, Banner.” Loki drawled. “What brings you to these parts at such an hour? School ended a while ago.”

“I forgot my book, now can you step aside?” Why was it always him to get caught up with Loki? “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Loki examined his finger nails, not even paying attention to Bruce, “My latest trick; it’s going to be a good one, too.” He glanced at Bruce for a split second, chuckling under his breath. “That dumb little dance recital my brother’s in is where the magic will happen.”

Bruce’s eyebrows shot up. “Why would you ruin your brother’s recital? He’s really excited about it.”

“Because I can.” Loki crossed his arms, “Just imagine it…a faulty spotlight. The second Thor steps forward for his solo, trust me, he has a solo, he will never cease to shut up about it…” He paused, staring at Bruce with his intense green eyes. “It falls. The whole thing just…collapses. It’s the grand finale, my dream finale, the finale that’ll take my brother down a peg or two.” Loki smiled. “Or three, if I’m lucky.”

“You’re gonna hurt your own brother?” Bruce said, “That’s just ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous, it’s me, and it’s what I do.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, “I am always the grand finale.”

He turned on his heels and began walking away, leaving Bruce by his locker, staring at his shoes.

“Is this plan final?” Bruce called, unsure if Loki would reply.

“I don’t know.” Loki responded, not bothering to look back. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

 Bruce exhaled through his nose, then ran back down the nearest flight of the stairs and back to the library, slamming his chemistry book down on the table.

“Woah, Bruce, it looks like you saw Principal Fury, are you okay?” Tony asked, then gasped dramatically. “Oh, lord, did he take away your happiness? He does that a lot.” Clint reached out for a high five, which Tony gladly returned.

“No, Loki wants to ruin Thor’s recital. I don’t know what he’s planning, but I don’t think it’s good.”

“Loki’s had some good pranks, it probably won’t be that bad.” Clint said, “The penguin one was a classic.”

“I think this one’s serious, Clint.” Bruce said. “Thor could get hurt.”

“If Loki is planning something big, we’re not gonna be of any help sitting in the audience.” Natasha said.

“What, are we gonna be back up dancers or something?” Tony said sarcastically, attempting to balance his pencil on his index finger, the wooden sliver falling each time. He looked up for a second, both Bruce and Natasha looking at him with small smiles, Clint just looking at them both with a confused face.

“No.” Tony said, pushing up from his chair. “No, no, no, this is where I draw the line, I will not partake in ballet dancing, and _hell_ no I will not crump and drop it like it’s hot in front of my peers, nope, nope, don’t even think about it.”

Natasha stood up slowly, still looking at Tony with a smile. Tony backed away slowly, raising his pencil for protection. “I swear, if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I will use this.”

“I’m with Tony on this one.” Clint said, standing up as well. “I don’t want Thor to get hurt either but I don’t look good in a du-rag.”

“You’re both irrelevant,” Natasha said, grabbing Clint’s hand, “Let’s go, I think the dance teacher is still here.”

They walked out of the library, two determined teens with two whining boys being dragged against their will to learn how to pop, lock, and plié.

How this was gonna go? Even Bruce wasn’t totally sure. He just knew that Thor’s safety was at stake, and that was enough for him to venture into the world of dance.

XXXX

Janet Van Dyne was president of the dance club. She’d seen plenty of people come to her wanting to learn how to dance.

But she never thought someone along the lines of Thor Odinson would take an interest in dancing.

He came to the band room, which doubled as the dance studio after school ended, three days after she put flyers around the school. He kind of snuck in there—well, his definition of sneaking.

“Afternoon, fair maiden!”

Jan flinched violently, spinning around to see a tall blond standing a good thirteen feet away from her with his arms opened triumphantly. “I have come to dance!”

Jan Van Dyne is a no-nonsense individual, and if this was supposed to be a football team prank, they would get a piece of her mind. She was a small girl, but that doesn’t mean she’ll take anyone’s crap.

“Excuse me?” She said. “Are you sure you’re at the right place? The football field is across campus.”

“Nay, I’m at the right place.” He pulled out a crumbled piece of paper, opening it and smoothing his palms over it several times. It was indeed the flyer, the one Jan spent a miniscule amount of time on because she literally forgot she was club president for about a week prior.

“I wish to learn.” Thor said earnestly, stuffing the flyer back in his pocket, “If you’re willing to teach me.”

Jan crossed her arms in thought, staring at him for a few moments. “You’re serious about this?”

“Yes, completely serious. My football friends are nice, but I would like to do something that interests me.”

The petite brunette was silent for another moment, and then smiled. “Alright, I’ll bite.” She said, mostly to herself. “We meet every day but Friday after school from 3:30 to 5, if you’re late more than three times, you lose your chance at a solo, if you’re late five times, you’re not allowed to dance in the next performance—”

“Performance?” Thor interrupted. “We get to perform for our peers?” His eyes lit up, like a small child in a toy store. It was adorably…uncomfortable, no high school student’s eyes should light up like that, Jan deduced.

“Yeah, we have recitals. Twice every quarter. People show up, we dance for about an hour, then we go home.”

Thor nodded, dropping his duffle bag on the ground. “Alright, I’m pleased with these requirements. Shall we start?”

Jan blinked. “Practice doesn’t start until next week, Thor.”

“But I do not know what this… ‘ballot’ is.”

Jan chuckled, “It’s pronounced ‘ballet’. I guess we do need a bit of a crash course.” She walked over to the mirror, motioning Thor to follow her.

“All of us have to learn ballet, but you get to pick another dance of your choice. Have you thought about your second one?”

“Yes, the one you call…hip hop. I’d like to learn that one. It sounds riveting.”

XXXX

Thor joining her dance club was one thing, but when four of his friends showed up, two of them kicking and screaming, Jan had concluded that she’d seen everything.

“Hi, Jan.” Natasha smiled, a pouting Clint Barton at the end of her hand. “We’re here for a huge favor.”

“Does it have anything to do with Tony and Clint’s childish pouting?”

“Yes, actually,” Natasha continued. “We need a spot in your recital tonight.”

Jan wagged a disapproving finger, “You should’ve come to rehearsals—for the past three weeks. I can’t just put you guys in there, it’ll throw off everything. And if this recital gets ruined, I swear…”

“That’s why we’re here!” Bruce said quickly, “There’s a chance something could go horribly wrong, and we want to make sure your recital goes smoothly.”

“If you could teach us some basic dance moves we could do for Thor’s solos, that’d mean a lot.” Natasha added.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m completely against this.” Tony said, who was currently sitting on the floor next to Bruce’s legs.

Jan paused for a minute, then she smiled. “Alright.” She agreed, mostly to spite Clint and Tony. “But only on one condition.”

“And what might that be?”

“One of you has to become a permanent member of the dance club, and I get to choose who.”

Tony and Clint jumped up to protest, only to be held back by Natasha.

“Deal.” Bruce said, shaking her hand in a concluding manner.

“Alright.” Jan said, turning her back to them, “There’s four of you in need of dance lessons and costumes. Lucky for you, the hip hop instructor needs to come up here for a fitting.”

“Who’s the instructor?” Clint asked.

“Anna Marie.”

“Shit.” Tony muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. His friends gave him a confused look, which he shrugged off. “Old fling, no big deal.”

“Old fling? As often as you called me, I wouldn’t call it a _fling_.”

A petite, curvy brunette with a striking white streak in her hair came strutting past them, standing next to Jan. She gave them a once over, resting her elbow on Jan’s shoulder. “This is what I have to work with?” She asked, a thick southern accent dripping from her tongue.

“Best of luck to ya, Anna Marie.” Jan said. “I’m off to get your costume. Don’t work them _too_ hard, I want them in one piece for the show tonight.” She gave a small wave goodbye to Clint, Bruce, Natasha and Tony, walking out of the band room.

“Alright!” Anna Marie clapped her hands, turning her back to them. “Two of you up front, two of you diagonal back. Tony, you’ll be up front.”

“Is there any particular reason for this cruelty?” Tony grumbled, standing next to Natasha with Clint behind him on his left side.

Anna Marie threw a glance over her shoulder, smirking in his direction. “No valid ones I can think of. I just wanna embarrass you. Okay, try to keep up!”

XXXX

Anna Marie taught them a hip hop routine as basic as they come—it only consisted of four different moves.

But somehow, it took them two hours to get them looking remotely decent instead of flailing around like buffoons.

So now it was seven -thirty, back stage of the auditorium—

And Bruce was adjusting a snapback on his head.

“Of all the things Thor had to choose…” He muttered. Natasha pushed back the curtain of his dressing room, wearing a wife beater and jean shorts. “We’re on in five minutes. Do you think Loki is still gonna go through with his plan?”

“I’m not sure,” Bruce said, standing up, “Loki’s hard to bargain with. We should still be up there just in case.”

“This is ridiculous and you both are ridiculous for agreeing to do this because I am not joining this dance club.” Tony, who pushed his way past Natasha into Bruce’s dressing room and onto the chair on front of the mirror. He was wearing a wife beater as well, with a gold chain and baggy pants. “Hip hop dancing? This is just surreal at this point. And where’s Steve? Why isn’t he here?”

“We couldn’t get a hold of him.” Natasha said, “But he probably would’ve done it, so quit pouting and stay on your mark.”

“I hope you know that the second I get on that stage is the second I start my eternal period of self-loathing.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Natasha smiled. “Find Clint and let’s go.” She left the room, Tony throwing his head back with a groan.

“It won’t be that bad, Tony.” Bruce reassured. “We’re gonna up there for ten, fifteen minutes tops.”

“That’s still too long.”

The curtain opened again, Anna Marie emerging with a headset on. “Y’all better get up there, it’s the final dance.” She started to laugh. “That’s what Jan chose?”

“How about we just don’t talk about this.” Tony said, zipping right past her, “Let’s just go.”

The curtain was falling as the four of them made their way to the stage, the dancers rearranging themselves for the final dance. Thor entered from stage left, taking his position in the center. Tony and Natasha were flanking him from behind, Clint and Bruce diagonal back from Tony and Natasha, respectively. There were muffled giggled from the other dancers, Natasha needing to hold Tony back from walking right off the stage. The stage silenced, the curtain rising. It was officially now or never.

The lights on the stage dimmed, music erupting from the speakers. The dancers and Thor were off, popping and jiving to the beat of the music, while the four study group members maintained their four moves; right arm cross over body, left arm behind, left arm cross, right arm behind, slide to the left, slide to the right.

Everything was going fairly smooth, with the exception of Bruce having two left feet and bumping into Clint when he slid the wrong way at the wrong time. With the exception of Tony pouting and mumbling as he danced about how he’s never gonna recover from this. With the exception of all of them being distracted by the spotlight and Thor to even worry about making sure their moves were in sync.

The background dancers and the study group stopped suddenly and fell to one knee, where Thor stepped forward for his solo. All eyes were on Thor, while four pairs were stuck on the spotlight, waiting for it to pop out of place, waiting for it to fall. Waiting for Loki’s finale.

With a jump back and a wave of his arms across his body, Thor’s solo had ended and the audience was applauding.

Bruce released a breath he had been holding in since he got dressed for the recital. He looked at his four friends, all of them looking at Bruce with confused faces.

“What about the spotlight?” Tony spat. “Don’t tell me I just did this for nothing!”

The curtain had fallen, Bruce, Tony, Clint and Natasha scurrying off the stage into a lone dressing room. The dancers— _actual_ dancers—were taking their bow and basking in the approving cheers.

“I-I don’t know! He was so adamant that this was gonna happen, he—” Bruce stopped his stammering. His eyes narrowed.

“ _This_ was his prank.”

“What do you mean? You said the prank was the spotlight!” Clint exclaimed.

“No…no, Bruce is right.” Natasha said slowly. Tony ripped off the gold chain in a dramatic huff, bitterly muttering “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“He made up the spotlight story. His prank was embarrassing us.” Bruce took off his snapback. “Loki knew we would do something to protect Thor. He was two steps ahead of us the whole time.”

The curtain of the dressing room opened, a sweaty blond bulk of man standing at the opening.

“Friends?” Thor questioned. He scanned their outfits. “Why are you dressed in such a way? Did—Were you dancing?!”

Bruce, Clint and Tony looked at Natasha, who stared at Thor with her mouth open, ready to make up an answer, but promptly shut it when she heard Thor laughing. Appearing next to Thor was Steve, who was grinning ear to ear.

“Didn’t know you guys had it in you.” Steve managed to say through his laughing fit.

“WE DID IT FOR FRIENDSHIP.” Clint shouted, flopping on the wooden chair by the vanity mirror.

Jan peeked her head inside the dressing room, walking in and standing next to Thor. She rested her small hand on his bicep, his eyes meeting hers.

“You did great, Thor.” She said. She meant it too, that was the best reaction a dance club recital has gotten ever since Jan had become president. Deep down—and _really_ deep down, since she wouldn’t give Thor the satisfaction of knowing—she was glad she gave the hulking foreigner a chance. It was an outlandish request to join the dance club, but Thor was an outlandish individual to begin with; she expected nothing less.

“Thank you.” Thor replied. Jan nodded in acknowledgment, stepping forward and clapping her hands together.

“As for you four,” She said, “You did a decent job out there. It wasn’t as grand as the rest of the club, but with some work, you’ll be ready for the next one.”

A grin stretched across her face. “Alas, a deal’s a deal. Mondays and Wednesdays after school are practice days for you, Clint. See you then.”

She turned on her heels and walked out just as Clint let out a defeated yell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	3. A Study in House Parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve takes the gang to a house party after the first football game of the season. But, of course, thing go a little wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a biz casual warning, this jumps tenses, and it's intentional  
> enjoy!!

Bruce awakes on a pool toy. In a pool.

He violently flails, breathing heavily before he can fully take in his surroundings. He just knew for sure that he’s on a pool toy. In a pool.

“Bruce! Oh, thank goodness!”

Bruce lets his head clear for a moment, lets his vision focus again and lets his breathing become steady. He looks in the direction of the voice—he’s not positive if it’s the right direction—and sees Steve, worriedly kneeling by the pool’s edge.

“Are you alright? Wake up!”

“I’m up.” Bruce manages to mumble once he feels his voice return to him. He is officially in the right state to realize he’s in a trashed backyard and in the middle of an in-ground pool at a house, but whose house it is, is beyond him.

“Think you can paddle over here?” Steve calls, his voice now clear to Bruce’s ears. Bruce slips his arms on either side of the pool toy into the cool water, the temperature almost foreign, and pushes himself towards Steve, who already has his arms outstretched. The sun is hot and high, making Bruce’s already stiff shirt even hotter and his cargo shorts stick uncomfortably to his skin.

Steve is already pulling Bruce out from the pool before the toy could reach the edge, standing him up straight.

“…What happened? Where are we?” Bruce asks, stretching his arms upward, hearing a satisfying crack.

“Do you not remember?” Steve replies, running a hand through his hair. “Bruce, you didn’t drink anything last night did you?”

“Steve, I don’t even know where we are. How am I supposed to remember?”

The blond sighs, putting his hands on his hips.

“I brought you guys to a party at Wanda’s—where we currently are—and I lost you all halfway through the night. I’m pretty sure some of my teammates slipped you something to drink. Do you have a headache?”

Bruce nods slowly, promptly holding his head. Steve shakes his head, “Yup, definitely hungover. Was this your first time drinking?”

“I never get invited to parties, you do the math.”

Steve holds up his hands in defense, “Alright, I didn’t ask for your sass, Bruce. C’mon, let’s get you some water and find Thor, since he’ll be the most difficult to get to.”

XXXX

It started out as a normal Thursday. It was hotter than usual, and the school was buzzing about the first football game of the season that evening. The jocks were sporting their jerseys, the cheerleaders in their uniforms, the student body sparking with a small amount of life that had seemingly disappeared when summer came to a close and school had resumed. People were alive again, all because of football.

Despite the anxious chatter about the game, the study group was at their roost in the library, third table behind the nonfiction section, attempting to study for a chemistry quiz on Monday.

 _Attempting_ being an exaggeration.

“Who do you guys play tonight?” Tony asked, tapping his pencil on his open chemistry book.

“They’re called the ‘Desert Stars’.” Steve replied, donning his black football jersey, “It should be a good game.”

“Dude, that team sucks.” Clint chimed in, “Their record last year was, like, 4-8. That should be by far the easiest win.”

“Be courteous to our opponents, Barton,” Thor said, also sporting his fashionable black jersey. “There was a whole summer to improve, mind you.”

“When did Fury decide to change to black jerseys?” Natasha inquired, “Did he want us to look more menacing?”

“We’re already menacing with you on the student body.” Tony muttered, earning a swift kick in the shin.

“It’d be great to see you guys at the game.” Steve said suddenly. “There’s gonna be a party afterwards, and since there’s no school tomorrow, I thought we could all go together.”

“Brilliant idea!” Thor bellowed in agreement.

Tony leaned back in his chair, “As much as I’d love to be in a house full of buff guys and cheerleaders, football games aren’t really my style.” He glanced at Steve, making eye contact for a split second. He let the legs of his chair hit the carpet with a soft _thud_. “But I _guess_ I can make an appearance.”

Steve’s face lit up, turning to Natasha. “If Tony’s going, someone’s gotta be there to keep him in line.” He said with a smile.

Natasha shrugged, “Might as well. Bruce, Clint, you’re both coming, too. End of discussion.”

“Hey, no argument from me, I’d love to see this cruddy team get creamed.” Clint said.

“I’m not really a football fan.” Bruce added lamely. “I’d be nothing but a bother.”

“That’s why we have Clint.” Natasha said, pointing to said brunet. “He can keep you tuned in, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, Bruce, I got you covered. You can repay me in full right now if you actually help me study for chemistry.” Clint said, cracking open his textbook.

Bruce smiled. “Yeah, let’s get to work.”

XXXX

Thor is severely sunburnt and snoring peacefully on Wanda Maximoff’s roof.

Steve and Bruce are in the front lawn, yelling his name, but it doesn’t seem to be waking him up.

Wanda makes her way outside in a red silk bathrobe, her brunette curls wild and shooting out in different directions.

“What is he doing up there?!” She spits.

“I don’t know how he got up there. I’m actually kind of impressed.” Steve quickly tries to pull up a defensive for Thor’s sake. “Do you have a ladder? That’s the only way I can get him down.”

“Whatever, as long as you get him down.” She starts walking back inside the house. “Pietro! Get a ladder!”

Bruce runs a hand through his disheveled hair, trying to recollect memories from last night. He’s still reeling over the fact that he was in the pool, when he can’t swim.

“Steve,” Bruce chokes out softly. He repeats Steve’s name, but the blond is too busy receiving the ladder from Wanda’s twin brother, positioning it against the house.

“Bruce, do you think you can climb up there?” Steve asks, turning around to look at him. Bruce swallows his words and his worry over last night, and replies with a simple nod. Steve says something about being right below him, but Bruce’s hearing goes out in a fuzzy whisper as he ascends up the ladder. He makes it to the roof with a leap from the silver step, clinging to the shingles for dear life. He can see Thor’s condition clearly now, after fear had melted out of his brain.

Thor is in his boxers face down on the roof, blond hair in a crooked braid and skin a sickly shade of red-orange. Bruce shuffles toward him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and shaking him.

“Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead…”

Thor springs up, giving a vicious shout and sitting up, looking at Bruce with wild eyes.

“Banner…?” He says slowly, then lets out a piercing scream.

“MY SKIN IS PURE PAIN!”

Bruce can’t help but let a smile stitch across his face as he shuffles back to the edge of the roof. “Steve!” He calls, “Thor’s alright! Help me get him down!”

XXXX

They sat in the very back corner of the bleachers that night.

The sun had set and the football field was alive. The student section was inked with black, supporting their team by wearing their school colors with pride. There was chanting, and smiles, and the small sparks from that school day were igniting bombs of adrenaline and exploding with excitement.

Clint hollered loudly, “Yeah! Don’t fuck up!”

Natasha slapped his arm, “It’s the first game of the season, do you have to be annoying?”

“I’m just having school spirit Nat!”

Natasha rolled her eyes, but it was cancelled out by the laugh she huffed out followed by a smile. The smile was tugged off her lips as Tony propped his feet up on her lap. Bruce and Clint couldn’t help but laugh as Natasha revealed a fat book hidden away in her backpack and Tony made a mad dash down the bleacher stairs.

The Midtown Avengers and the Downtown Desert Stars made their way to the field, the stands on both sides erupting with cheers.

“Go Steve!” Tony shouted as he made his way back to the group, plopping down next to Bruce. “I love football!”

“I’m guessing you know just as much about football as I do?” Bruce inquired.

Tony shrugged, “Actually, less. But I’m better at hiding it.” His attention snapped to the field, frantically poking at Bruce’s shoulder. “Look, look, there’s Thor!”

Thor was prancing— _literally_ prancing—across the field to the opposing goal post, holding the football up above his head, with three members of the Desert Stars hanging onto his waist. Thor was dragging them across the field.

Clint and Tony doubled over in laughter. “My God, I knew Thor couldn’t play football, but I didn’t think it was gonna be this good!” Clint crowed, reaching across Natasha to give Tony a high five.

“C’mon, he’s not _that_ bad…” Natasha protested lamely. Her argument was obliterated by Thor yelling a battle cry after Steve hiked the ball and body slamming an unknowing defensive lineman. Now it was her turn to break down in a laughing fit.

“You can always count on Thor to put on a good show.” Tony said during his fits of chuckles. “Oh God, what if he starts doing one of his hip hop dances?”

The rest of the football game went smoothly. They cheered for their friends, shared a few laughs amongst themselves. It was a successful night; for the study group, and for the Midtown Avengers, chalking up their first win of the season.

Once the final buzzer had sounded, the four made their way to the gate leading to the locker rooms to catch Thor and Steve. They weren’t allowed to be down there, so they tried to blend in with parents and the water boys.

Steve and Thor were one of the last ones of the team to make their way to the gate, Steve with a hand on Thor’s shoulder, both smiling gently to themselves. They noticed the gang immediately—let’s face it, they weren’t blending very well in black while the water boys wore light blue—and veered off to meet with them.

“You guys were great out there.” Natasha said earnestly, earning a one armed hug from a very sweaty Thor.

“That play you guys did in the third quarter was incredible,” Clint chimed in, “But it was _only_ incredible because of your star player.” He pointed to Thor and clapped.

“I didn’t understand what was going on,” Bruce said shyly, “But you guys won, so that’s good.”

“I’m glad you guys came.” Steve said sincerely, “You’re all still coming to Wanda’s party right? We’ll come right back out and we can all go together.”

Tony stepped up and wrapped an arm around Steve’s shoulder pads. “You had me at ‘party’, Rogers. We’ll be right here.”

“Awesome! Give us, like, twenty minutes.” And with that, Steve motioned Thor to get a move on, and they jogged to the locker rooms.

“A party at Maximoff’s, huh?” Natasha said. “I have a feeling this is going to be super interesting.”

XXXX

Thor is the one to find Natasha and Clint in the rose bushes in the Maximoff’s backyard.

Clint is sprawled out, a single rose in his hair, while Natasha is sitting up against the house, both sleeping soundly. The only thing out of place is Clint’s leather jacket is gone, but it didn’t take long to see it’s on Natasha’s shoulders.

“It’s like a movie.” Steve says with a smile, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his letterman jacket.

“I wish to not disturb the lady,” Thor says, leaning down to scoop her up bridal style. Her head falls on his shoulder. He winces at the contact on his burnt shoulder, but ignores the pain. “She does not seem like one to enjoy being woken up.”

Steve walks over to Clint, nudging his thigh with his shoe. Clint awakes gently, stretching his arms upward. He looks in the direction Natasha was sleeping in, faint worry passing over his eyes, but he sees she’s in Thor’s arms, and relaxes.

“That was a rad party.” He says hoarsely, reaching up for Steve’s arm. He hoists himself up, continuing his stretching.

“You didn’t get drunk?” Steve asks. Clint shakes his head, waving a hand. “Nah, not really my thing. I didn’t think Bruce had it in him, though.”

Bruce’s ears perk up. “Can you tell me what I did last night and how I ended up in the pool?”

XXXX

By the time the six made it to Wanda’s house, the party was swelling with those sparks of life that needed to recharge with a drink and a few laughs. The sparks were still glowing and singeing, embracing the life before they had to fizz out again.

The party-goers were a diverse bunch—it wasn’t just jocks and cheerleaders, but rather a pinch of every type of person; the band members, the color commentators, even some stragglers from the stands.

For about twenty minutes, the study group remained together; mingling by the drink table, sitting outside by the pool. They slowly branched out from each other and didn’t reconnect for the remainder of the night.

“Just one more drink, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.”

Bruce found himself tangled up with Aleksei Sytsevich and Max Dillon, two players from the football team Bruce was certain Steve was not very fond of—but he couldn’t really remember, since alcohol was clouding his mind. The three were in the kitchen, Aleksei making various cocktails for Bruce and Max to test.

“No, no,” Bruce protested. “I’m calling it quits. You said I’d enjoy the other ones, but you were horribly wrong.”

“He obviously can’t handle your witchcraft,” Max said. “Let the ninny call it.”

Bruce glared at him, “I’m not a ninny.”

“Only ninnies refuse the shot.” Max shrugged.

He didn’t hesitate—he slammed his shot glass down on the counter, nodding at the array of liquor on the counter. “Hit me.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Aleksei hooted, pouring the blue-ish concoction into the cup. Bruce knocked back the shot, gritting his teeth at the strong taste burning his throat, then smiling faintly at the cheer he got from Max and Aleksei.

“Bruce, you alright?”

Bruce whipped his head around, his grainy vision attempting to focus on the figure in front of him. His eyes cleared for a second, recognizing Clint.

“Oh, hey man!” Bruce yelled, “Yeah, yeah, I’m good! Just takin’ a few shots!”

Clint looked at him, face stained with worry. “Bruce, how many shots have you had?” He turned to Aleksei, pushing Bruce aside. “What are you putting in those shots?”

Aleksei huffed out a low laugh. He waved a hand by the bottles of alcohol on the counter. “Just your standard selection.”

Clint balled a fist, “Knock it off Aleksei. If something happens to him, I swear to God—”

Bruce grabbed Clint’s jacket and tugged him backwards, Clint stumbling to face him, “I can handle myself, Clint.”

Clint blinked as Bruce let go of him, pulling his jacket back into place. “Well, uh, alright. If you need anything, I’ll be with Nat. Just holler, I’ll be there.”

Bruce nodded. Clint looked at him for a moment longer before walking away from them. Bruce’s eyes unfocused again as he turned back to the two snickering boys.

“Shall we do a few more?” Max asked, holding two glasses in his hand. Bruce smirked, snatching one of them.  “Hell yeah!”

XXXX

“…And then you and those two buffoons went out to the pool, and that’s when you passed out. They thought it would be cute to put you on a pool toy, so they pushed you out on the thing, and I guess that’s where you were all night.” Clint finishes.

The five of them stood—except Natasha, who is still asleep in Thor’s arms—by Steve’s car, discussing the events of last night.

“Do any of you recall how I ended up on the roof?” Thor asks, earning a few soft chuckles.

“You had a few of Aleksei and Max’s cocktails and thought Wanda’s roof was a fit place to teach Flash Thompson some hip hop moves.” Steve deadpans. Thor is quiet for a moment, but a laugh bubbles from his throat as he shakes his head.

“I believe I’m done with house parties after this ordeal.” He says.

“Totally agreed.” Bruce replies, “I better get going. I’ll see you guys Tuesday.” He offers Thor and Clint a ride home, which they accept, and chime off a tired goodbye to Steve as they make their way down the street.

Steve walks around his car, falling into the driver’s seat with a heavy sigh. He turns around, the sleeping form of Tony curled up in the backseat. Steve chuckles softly, turning back around and kicking on the ignition.

“Let’s get you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	4. A Study in Hank Pym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony isn't too fond of new kid Hank Pym stealing his sidekick, and it takes a toll on the study group.

It was a Thursday afternoon and someone was in Tony’s seat.

He had just witnessed Loki get slapped by Kitty Pryde for calling her useless and pale and he just _had_ to tell the study group—

But someone was in his seat, his seat from the very beginning, an ass that wasn’t his was in that wood chair.

“Uh.” Was all Tony could muster. The conversations ceased, everyone looking up at him.

“Oh, hey, Stark.” Clint said, as if nothing was wrong—there was a _lot_ wrong.

“Took you long enough to get here.” Natasha quipped, as if nothing was wrong— _there was a lot wrong_.

“Who’s this?” Tony blurted.

“Oh, Hank, this is Tony,” Bruce waved a hand at Tony, “And Tony, this is Hank Pym.” The lanky redhead with honey brown eyes in question smiled shyly, standing up and extending his arm.

“It’s a plea—”

“You’re in my seat.”

Hank blinked, his smile slightly faltering. “Oh, um, I’m sorry—”

“Yeah, now get up.”

“Jesus, Tony,” Clint said. “Calm down, it’s just a seat.”

“No, it’s fine, I didn’t mean to overstep. I’ll just pull up another chair.” Hank scurried off to find a seat while Tony took his wooden throne at the head of the table, albeit receiving a bunch of confused glares.

“What?” He asked innocently.

“Tony, that was really rude.” Steve said. Tony held up in his hands in defense, “You guys should’ve told him this is my seat, not my fault he didn’t know.”

“Drama queen.” Clint coughed out, earning a glare from Tony. “Don’t give me that, you kicked a perfectly decent guy out of a seat, quit being a baby.”

Hank returned with a chair and scooted in between Steve and Thor before Tony could reply, an uncomfortable silence falling over the table.

“So, like we were talking about before,” Clint spoke up. “Hank, where’d you move from?”

“I moved from Uptown with my father. He got an amazing business opportunity, and Midtown’s got a really good science program.”

Bruce suddenly became interested in the conversation. “What kind of science are you into?”

Hank shrugged, “Mostly biochemistry. My studies right now focus on DNA replication.”

Bruce’s eyes visibly lit up, standing up. “Do you work in the science lab?”

“I’m in the green house mostly, but yeah, you could say that.” Hank stood up as well. “Do you want to check it out?”

“Oh, definitely!” He chimed off a farewell to the study group and exited the library, talking excitedly to Hank.

“I have never seen Bruce so excited before.” Steve chuckled.

“He finally found a brother of science.” Thor inquired. “Someone who shares his intellect and love of the study.”

Tony pointed to himself, “I like science! And I’m smart!”

“Yeah, but you don’t share Bruce’s passion.” Natasha said. She stood up, gathering up her belongings. “You better come here Tuesday with a better attitude, Tony.”

Tony was about to protest, but the looks Steve and Clint gave him made him slump back in his chair while the remaining four people let the library.

He sighed, letting his head hit the table. “I like science…” He grumbled.

XXXX

Behind the massive football field, there was an abandoned archery ground. Archery used to be wildly popular in the past of Midtown High School, but slowly declined until it was nothing but a memory. The targets were worn down and faded from years of idleness, rotted wood benches lined in the back of the field for viewing pleasure.

An arrow soared through the air, striking the target only a few inches from the yellow center. Clint released the breath he was holding, letting his arms rest.

Clint had taken an interest at archery at a young age. He participated strictly recreational, but slowly moved up to joining archery teams. He quit doing it competitively when he suddenly lost his love of the sport. Clint couldn’t figure out what happened to his passion, until he realized it was the competing aspect of it that ruined it for him. So he quit his teams, and returned to archery for pleasure, rather than the profit of a trophy or bragging rights.

He collected another arrow from the bag on his back, aligning it on the bow. He pulled back, holding his breath, keeping his arms and back straight. He released his hold, the arrow tearing through the wind and hitting the center of the target. He lowered the bow, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Still got it.” He said.

“I’m impressed.”

Clint flinched, spinning around and seeing Natasha on one of the wood benches, her arms folded across her chest.

“When did you get here?”

Natasha shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.” She stood up, “I had no idea this place even existed.”

Clint’s eyebrow rose, “If you didn’t know, how’d you find me here then?”

“Coulson told me you’d be out here. I go up there every week to check your progress, and see what we need to work on. I asked him where you scurry off to during free period, and he said you come here. So, blame Coulson for tuning me into your super-secret spot.”

Clint was silent for a moment, turning around to face the target again. “Might as well stick around.” He said, reaching for another arrow. He could hear Natasha trudge back to the bench.

It was quiet for a long time. Clint was reaching for his ninth arrow when Natasha broke the heavy silence.

“How long have you been doing this? Coming back here, that is.”

Clint took another breath, launching the arrow. It hit the center spot on. “Since, like sophomore year.” He pauses momentarily, steadying another arrow. “It’s a good break from everything. Since nobody knows about this place.” He set it free, hitting the red area right outside the yellow center.

“How long are you usually out here?”

Clint reached up for another arrow, only to realize all ten of them are in the target. He turned to face Natasha, a small smile on his face.

“Until I run out.”

XXXX

It was third period on Thursday. Tony was at his post outside Steve and Bruce’s French class, where they would walk together to Bruce and Tony’s History class and Steve would go off to soak up his free period.

The bell rang, the door to Madame St. Croix’s room swinging up, students spilling out to get to fourth period. Steve walked out, giving Tony a wave. Tony waved back, taking a step forward to walk with them—

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Bruce and that Hank Pym guy walk out in deep conversation, Steve following behind them.

Tony rushed over to the three, his steps falling in sync with Steve’s.

“That guy is in your French class?” Tony hissed under his breath.

“ _Oui_.” Steve said with a charming smile. “Kind of reminds me of you and Bruce. You guys would always talk about science-y things, and I’d just hang back and listen.”

“That _was_ me and Bruce, like, yesterday!” Tony snapped. Bruce and Hank had continued on through a different hallway, while Steve and Tony walked upstairs to the latter’s history class.

“Someone seems a little jealous of Bruce’s new buddy.” Steve teased.

“I’m not jealous! I just don’t trust this guy…” Tony glared absently inside Mr. McKenzie’s classroom, where Bruce was sitting at his desk, with Hank hovering over him.

“You better get used to him, because he’s in this class, too.” Steve said. Tony let out a frustrated yell. “I can’t escape Hank Pym!”

“You should talk to Bruce, then. Tell him you’re feeling replaced.”

Tony waved a hand, “I can handle this. Go enjoy your free period, Rogers.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “With pleasure.”

Tony spun on his heels and walked inside the classroom, noticing stupid Hank was in his seat. He walked down the row of desks, giving Hank a brief glare. Hank didn’t notice, since he was too caught up with his conversation with Bruce. Tony made his way to the back of the class, slipping into a seat next to Justin Hammer. The bell sounded, Mr. McKenzie walking in with a loud slam of the door.

“Today’s lesson is very special to me, class. We’re gonna talk about the lost city of Atlantis…”

XXXX

 

Tony was early to the library that day.

The second the bell rang for the end of chemistry, he booked it out of there before Coulson could even give him the study materials for the tutoring session.

He just had to make sure he got his seat.

Natasha arrived a few minutes after Tony, her eyebrows raising in surprise. “Well, this is new. Tony Stark actually on time for a study session?”

“Very funny, Spider. I just had to make sure Tony’s seat remained Tony’s seat for another day.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, breathing out a laugh. “You’ve got to put your jealousy behind you, Stark.”

“Why does everyone keep saying I’m jealous!” Tony shouted, only to be promptly shushed by the librarian.

“Because you kind of are.” Clint chimed in, sliding into his seat across from Tony. “I’m pretty sure Uptown heard your hissy fit.”

Steve and Thor arrived a few moments later opening their chemistry books and started to actually study for about twenty minutes.

They were interrupted by Clint’s phone beeping. He whipped it out of his pocket, tapping the screen a few times.

“It’s a text from Bruce; he says he can’t make it today, he’s up in the green house with—”

“Don’t say it.”

“—Hank Pym.”

Tony let out a frustrated grunt and let his head hit the table. “Hank, Hank, _Hank_. Hank isn’t that great.”

“Tony, you need to tell Bruce you’re jealous.” Steve said.

“Yeah, watching you mope over this is embarrassing.” Natasha cringed.

Tony threw his head up, preparing to protest, only to be halted by Thor raising his hand. “Envy is not healthy. The longer you wait to tell Banner your feelings, the more strained your friendship will be.”

“When Thor gives advice that makes absolutely perfect sense,” Clint said. “You know you need to follow it.”

Tony sighed, sitting back up in his chair and rummaging through his chemistry papers. “I’ll handle it, get off my back. These equations aren’t gonna balance themselves, let’s go.”

XXXX

Two weeks had gone by and Bruce skipped out on three study sessions.

Clint and Tony had a huge test at the end of the first week, and Bruce, the chemistry wizard, only showed up that Thursday. Clint barely passed, which rattled his nerves, and led to another attempt to et Tony to talk to Bruce.

It didn’t work.

So on Thursday, Clint, Thor, Steve and Natasha cornered Tony outside of his English class right after the bell signaled the end of sixth period.

“You’re gonna talk to Bruce.” Clint said, “This isn’t a request, it’s an order.”

“Why do I need to? Why don’t you?” Tony spat back.

“Because without Bruce, I’m doing _worse_ in chemistry. And if I do worse, you’re gonna get chewed out by Coulson.”

“Tony, are you scared to talk to him about this?” Steve asked. Tony looked at each of them with an unreadable expression. He inhaled sharply through his nose, exhaling slowly through his mouth.

He pushed out of the circle and up the nearest flight of stairs, ignoring the calls for him to come back.

The green house was at the end of the science wing, the back wall replaced with glass, foggy from humidity and the wet from condensation. Tony picked up his pace, walking right past Coulson’s steadily filling classroom. He threw open one of the glass doors, a gust of thick, warm air greeting his skin as he walked inside.

There was a faint sound of running water in the background, as well as the faint sound of two voices. Tony tried his best to follow them, but the overgrown plant life made it hard for the voices to carry.

He rounded a corner, seeing Bruce and Hank, dressed in white lab coats and goggles, hovering over a hydrangea plant and a UV lamp.

“Bruce.”

Bruce looked up, meeting Tony’s gaze with a confused expression. “Tony? What are you—?”

“Bruce, I’m…” He inhaled the humid air of the green house. “…jealous, of you and Hank.”

Bruce said nothing in return, so Tony continued. “For the past three weeks, it’s been the Bruce and Hank Show, and I felt…replaced. Like, yanno, we were a team. The Bruce and Tony Format. Now it’s like, the show got moved to a different night and a different time, and I’m still waiting to see what night and time that is.” He let his hands fall, letting go of the breath in his lungs. “And we miss you. The study group, that is. It’s not the same. It really isn’t, since you knew the material better than the rest of us, we have no idea what we’re talking about.”

He looked at Bruce for a little bit longer, trying to read his face—he wasn’t getting anything.

Tony gave a defeated sigh, spinning on his heels, “I’ll let you guys get back to it.” and exited the heat of the green house.

The bell was chiming for the start of seventh period as the glass doors closed behind him. He started his walk to Coulson’s room, ready to get reprimanded for being late like he always does—

“Tony?”

He turned around, Bruce stepping out from behind the glass door, lifting his goggles off his face.

“I’m sorry. I got so excited that I found a friend I can do science-y things with, someone who understands it, and likes it just as much as I do. I shouldn’t have blown you guys off like that.” Bruce’s eyes softened. “And I’m sorry you felt replaced. I could never do that to you, Tony.”

Tony smirked, looking down at his shoes. “You’re coming after school, right?”

Bruce gave him a sheepish smile. “Definitely.”

Tony turned back around, a little more spirit in his step, and swaggered into Coulson’s chemistry class.

“Mr. Stark, how nice of you to join us.”

Tony slid into his seat in the third row, leaning back in his chair.

“Good to be here, Coulson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	5. A Study in Pillow Fights & Pom Poms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The men have a sleepover. Natasha expands her social horizon. The night turns out interesting for both parties

It was an abnormally chilly Thursday for September. The clouds were looming over Midtown High School, heavily lumpy and gray. A sharp wind sliced through the gloomy air and rattled against the brick buildings of the school.

A window in the library was broken—it wasn’t an accident, so all fingers pointed to Loki—so the palace of books was draftier than ever, the cool air settling on the shoulders of the students. A breeze floated by the third table behind the nonfiction section, and attempted to take the papers spread across the table away with the wind.

Clint smacked his hands on the papers trying to scoot away from him, huffing out a breath in annoyance. “Was it really Loki that busted the window, Thor?”

Thor nodded, “Indeed, but with that silver tongue of his, he’ll walk away from this with no consequence. He never learns.”

Another gust of wind floated into the library, the six students around the table shivering in unison.

“I hope the weather isn’t this cruddy over the weekend.” Steve said, “I wanted to get in some practice before the next game.”

“Are you kidding? This weather is great!” Bruce gushed. “The perfect weather to stay indoors.”

“Don’t spend all day inhaling chemicals, Bruce.” Natasha said sternly.

The group flinched at the sound of Tony randomly slamming his fist on the table, leaning forward in his chair with an excited expression on his face.

“Christ, Stark, any particular reason for the goddamn heart attack?” Clint hissed, leaning back in his chair.

“Let’s have a sleepover at my place tonight.”

He received five puzzled expressions, Steve breathing out a small laugh. “A sleepover?”

“Yeah, a good old fashion sleepover! We haven’t really had much bonding time, plus, like Bruce said, it _is_ perfect weather to stay indoors.” Tony looked at Natasha. “I don’t expect you to want to join, but you’re welcomed to.”

Natasha stood up, waving her hand. “Nah, it’s alright. I gotta jet anyway. I’ll see you guys later, have fun at your man sleepover.” She left the library with a sharp wind following her.

Tony turned back to the four remaining members of the study group.

“I’m down.” Clint said with a shrug. “What could go wrong?”

“Because you said that, I feel like a lot is gonna go wrong. But I’ll come, too.” Steve chimed in.

“Aye, I shall attend as well.”

Bruce looked at the four boys, then sighed. “Might as well.”

“Awesome! Be at my place at seven.” And with that, Tony jumped up and hurried out of the library.

There was a silence over the last few of the study group, all with confused expressions on their faces.

“Do…do any of you know where Tony lives?” Clint asked.

“Nope.” The others said in unison.

XXXX

Natasha was somehow dragged to cheerleading tryouts.

She was walking out of the library, the sky threatening rain, trapping the town in a dome of gloomy clouds. The only thing on her mind was calculations—if she took the shortcut through the Danvers’ Donuts parking lot, she could make it in time to watch a few pre-recorded episodes of Game of Thrones before the live one comes on. Or, she could cut through a few backyards, but it’s so cold, doing that would—

“Nat!”

She stopped walking, turning her head slightly in the direction of the noise. She could’ve sworn it was the wind, shrill, sharp, and kind of annoying—

Natasha instincts clicked and she reached out behind her, hand coming in contact with an outstretched arm. She threw a glance behind her shoulder, seeing a slightly frazzled Jan Van Dyne, followed by a visibly irritated Anna Marie.

“Oh, hi, Jan.” Natasha said calmly, letting go of her arm. “What’s up?”

“Jan, we’re already late.” Anna Marie huffed. Jan waved her off, turning back to Natasha.

“Do you wanna come with us?”

Natasha blinked. “Come to what?”

“She’s not gonna get a move on unless you come with us.”

Natasha takes a step back, “I’m not going to whatever you’re talking about until you tell me what it is.”

“It’ll be fun, I promise.” Jan tried to persuade, albeit failing, since Natasha isn’t one who is easily persuaded.

“Jan, I swear, if you don’t—”

“We’re already late!” Anna Marie repeated in annoyance, “Let’s just go!”

And with a surprisingly fierce push, Anna Marie led the two still arguing girls to the unknown location—which was what they were arguing about.

Natasha looked away from Jan to recollect herself for more arguing, until she saw it.

Anna Marie had been pushing them towards the football field, where a table was set up on the 50 yard line, a few feet away from the bleachers. In the center sat Wanda Maximoff, flanked by Jennifer Walters and Sue Storm. On the bleachers were at least 30 girls, maybe even more, all waiting their turn to—

“Cheerleading tryouts?!” She exclaimed. She turned to Jan with a sharp exhale, Jan returning the gesture with an innocent smile.

“No, no, no,” Natasha bit out. “I’m not doing this, no way.”

“C’mon, Nat! I thought we could all do something together. You’re always with the study group, a little girl time can’t hurt.”

“I don’t wanna do this, Jan.” Natasha deadpanned, standing up straight from Anna Marie’s hand. “Why didn’t you just tell me outside the library?”

“Because she knew you were gonna say no.” Anna Marie piped up, sliding in between them to sit on the bleachers next to Bobbi Morse and Patsy Walker.

“They got you too?” Bobbi asked. “These three ambushed me during lunch…”

Natasha turned to Jan. “This was a group effort?”

“To be honest, we should’ve ambushed Natasha.” Patsy said, “Bobbi was too easy.” Bobbi gave her a swift punch in the arm.

“Well, sorry you got bamboozled, Bobbi, but I’m gonna head home.” Natasha said, only to be grabbed by Jan.

“What’s wrong with just trying out?” Jan whined.

“Because I don’t want to?”

“Look,” Jan sighed, “I thought it was a ton of fun helping you and your study group out for the dance recital. I just…thought we could be friends.” She leaned in a little closer. “Plus, dealing with these three by myself gets a little too much sometimes.”

“We heard you, Jan.”

“Morse?” Wanda Maximoff called from her table. Four heads turned to look at Bobbi, who stood up and dragged herself to the field in front of the table.

Natasha couldn’t help but give her a small smile. “We _are_ friends.”

“But we never get a chance to hang out! You’re either locking yourself away from the world, or with the guys in your study group.” She paused. “You don’t have to make the squad. Just trying out is all I’m asking. If you don’t make it, then that’s that. I won’t bug you about cheerleading ever again. But we _are_ gonna hang out more.”

Natasha looked from the three girls on the bleachers, then back to Jan. She was ready to turn back around and head home, but some force was stopping her.

Bobbi returned to the bleachers, flopping back down in her seat in between Patsy and Anna Marie. She shrugged, “Wasn’t that bad. I know for sure I didn’t make it, but hey, it wasn’t awful.”

Jan turned back to Natasha, hopefulness spilling out of her eyes. “See?”

“Natchios?”

Natasha heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…”

Jan let out an excited whoop, “Good! Because I think you’re up next…”

“What?!”

After a moment of Natasha trying to escape, she heard it.

“Romanoff?”

With a gentle shove from Jan, Natasha was walking onto the field, her back straight, her smile fake and bright.

Her and Wanda make eye contact, Wanda tapping her pen against the wooden table.

“So. Romanoff.” She said, “Do you have a cheer for us today?”

“Yes, I do,” Natasha replied.

She doesn’t even know the basic form of a cheer.

XXXX

After investigating where Tony actually lives (a quick run-in with Pepper Potts after their study session saved their skins), seven had finally arrived. Bruce, Clint, Steve, and Thor were posted on Tony’s stoop, duffle bags on shoulders and litters of soda in hand.

But the men—somehow—hit a snag.

“Knock on the door.”

“What? I’m not gonna do it. Steve, you do it.”

“Clint, is it really that hard to knock on the door?”

“I don’t want to, so just—”

Thor groaned, bashing his knuckles against the wood door. “Your bickering grew tedious.” He said bluntly.

The door flung open, a slender woman with dirty blonde hair smiling at them with warm brown eyes.

“You must be Tony’s friends. It’s so—”

Tony emerged from behind his mother, “Get in here.” He deadpanned, disappearing again. Tony’s mother exhaled through her nose, stepping aside and motioning them to come in.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Stark, I’m Bruce.” Bruce said, outstretching his hand. Clint and Steve had followed Tony into the living room, where he was currently showing off the sound system he built, while Thor marveled at the books on the shelves and the space heater in the corner.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Bruce.” Maria Stark said, returning his gesture. “Tony’s taken quite a liking to you.”

“Really?” Bruce didn’t mean to sound genuinely surprised.

Maria nodded with a smile. “I’ve never heard him speak so fondly about anyone but Pepper. But lately,” she paused, glancing over at Tony and Clint fighting over the iPod. “He’s seemed very happy about this study group.”

Bruce couldn’t help by smirk a little. Tony yanked the iPod off the cord connected to the speakers, scrambling away and down a set of stairs behind a door by the kitchen, Clint flying after him. Steve pried Thor away from analyzing an upside down copy of _Catcher in the Rye_ , leading him down the flight of stairs.

“Tell them I’m calling in for some pizza in a few minutes. And please,” Maria rested a hand on Bruce’s shoulder, “keep them under control.”

Bruce nodded silently, Maria walking back into the living room. He hiked his duffle bag onto his shoulder, making his way down to the basement (he assumed).

He and Tony weren’t very different after all.

XXXX

Natasha somehow ended up in Jan Van Dyne’s kitchen choking on nail polish fumes.

“Nat, let me paint your nails.”

“Don’t touch me.”

Cheerleading tryouts ended hours ago—her tryout was a mess, and she was proud of that. If she didn’t make the team, she wouldn’t have to deal with being hassled about girl time.

Right?

Wrong.

After tryouts, Bobbi, Patsy, Jan, Anna Marie, and by some stroke of luck, Natasha, piled into Anna Marie’s Nissan and went to Jan’s house for a spur-of-the-moment slumber party.

She missed the new Game of Thrones episode. And, after mindless scrolling through review blogs on Jan’s laptop, it was a good episode.

So needless to say, Natasha is pissed.

And she doesn’t want a manicure.

“So, Nat, do you like one of the guys in your study group?” Patsy asked.

Natasha snorted, “Oh my God, no. Without me, those morons couldn’t function. Let alone actually tutor Clint.”

“Don’t you guys usually hang out after study sessions?” Bobbi inquired. Natasha shrugged, “They’re having a man sleepover, I’ll pass on braiding Thor’s hair.”

“I’ve actually braided his hair.”

The four girls looked at Jan, who was admiring her crimson nails. “I had to do it for the dance recital,” She said, not taking her eyes off her fingers. “He liked it a little too much.”

Natasha choked back a laugh, going back to her internet browsing.

“I bet they’re having a pillow fight right now.” Anna Marie said, leaning on the counter.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Bobbi snickered. “They all have the maturity levels of four year olds.”

X

The basement was deserted and Clint wasn’t the least bit concerned.

He clutched his weapon between his fingers, his steps small and slow, eyes and ears alert. He wasn’t gonna let these amateurs compromise him.

He kicked a stray football out of his path, a strange rustling sound coming from behind him. Clint readied his weapon.

He swung his pillow behind him, smacking Steve right in the face.

“Bunch of amateurs!” Clint laughed. Steve sat up on his knees, running his hand over his face. “Thanks for practically breaking my nose, Clint.”

“Are you bleeding? Okay then!”

Tony, Bruce, and Thor emerged from the back of the couch, all with unpleased expressions on their faces.

“Pillow fights are no fun when Clint causes actual injuries…” Bruce sighed.

Tony reached out for Steve’s hand, helping him to his feet. “Pillow fights are war, Bruce—”

He was cut off by a swift uppercut by a pillow, from Steve Rogers.

“Pillow fights are war, right?” Steve breathed out. “Every man for himself.”

X

Natasha stopped protesting to go home when she found out Bobbi Morse is a huge Game of Thrones fan.

They talked for what felt like hours about the show, and Natasha wasn’t oblivious to the side-glances she was getting from Jan.

She was actually enjoying herself. It was weird not being surrounded by the study group. Different scene, different feel to it.

One manicure couldn’t hurt.

X

Bruce was unconscious.

“For the love of Christ, Clint, are you serious?!”

“He shouldn’t have snuck up on me!”

Thor cradled Bruce in his arms, worry painted on his face. “Banner? Banner, please say something.”

“You took it too far, Clint!” Steve shouted, running a hand through his hair. “You didn’t have to whack him that hard!”

“Who’s the one that said ‘pillow fights are war’!?”

“Tony!”

“Don’t blame me, Clint shouldn’t have hit him!”

“You guys are yelling so loud…”

The five boys looked at Bruce, who was leaning against Thor, hand on his forehead. “I’m fine, just stop yelling.”

Tony looked at Bruce, then the pillows in their hands.

“Pillow fighting’s over.”

It was a mutual agreement.

XXXX

On Tuesday, Natasha found out she made the cheer squad.

On Tuesday, Bruce was out with a concussion.

On Tuesday, the study group met in the library behind the nonfiction section in a weird silence.

“So…” Natasha said slowly. “How was your man sleepover on Thursday?”

Tony glanced at Clint, who glanced at Steve, who glanced at Thor.

“Fine.”

“Uneventful.”

“Joyous!”

“Let’s just study.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	6. A Study in School Plays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy LaBeau, star of the fall musical, has a broken leg. Who will take his place? Why, the only man perfect for the job: Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's your favorite sporadic writer marissa, aka twelfth_hour  
> i'm not gonna say "im back for good" or "more updates MORE FREQUENTLY" bc i know i won't uphold that and i feel terrible so just. i'll update when i can. BUT. since im in university now. and have been home for the summer since end of april. updates won't have like. a year long gap between them. i CAN promise that!!!

It was a chilly day at Midtown High School, and the highly anticipated production of “Tangled” came to a screeching halt, and first period hadn’t even started yet.

Remy LaBeau, the star of the show as Flynn Rider, came to school that Tuesday morning on crutches with a cast on his right leg, much to Hank McCoy, drama club director’s dismay. He informed him in front of his locker that he couldn’t do the musical, and Hank was already halfway down the hall, fumbling through his backpack.

So now Hank McCoy, drama club director, was standing in front of Tony’s desk in first period Calc 2 with a fat stack of papers.

“Hank?” Tony yawned. “What are you doing here?”

“LaBeau can’t perform in the fall musical, so it’s up to you.”

Tony blinked, and then laughed. “Yeah, okay, right. LaBeau’s never missed a drama performance.”

Hank sighed. “Fine, whatever, don’t believe me. You’re our understudy, and we perform Thursday to Sunday.”

“Thursday!? _This_ Thursday?!”

“We’ve sent you countless emails, Stark.”

“You act like I check that!”

“You signed up as understudy, so now, it’s your responsibility to fulfill it. See you at rehearsal tonight.”

And with that, Hank McCoy, drama club director, was out of Mr. Tarleton’s classroom, leaving Tony a little bit more stressed out then he intended to be this morning.

Steve, who was sitting behind him, tapped on his shoulder. “Understudy?”

Tony sighed. “Since seventh grade, I’ve always signed up as an understudy for all the drama club production. Y’know, ‘cause it looks good on college applications, resumes, the works. I auditioned once, for real, during freshmen year, and ever since then, I’ve been an understudy for LaBeau. I’m a man of many talents, clearly.”

Steve snorted, “Right, like inflating your own ego.”

He smirked and shrugged, turning back around to face forward, leafing through the script on his desk.

“What’s the play?” Steve asked.

“’Tangled’. What the hell is that?”

Steve chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “You’re lucky then. You’re basically just like Flynn Rider.”

“Who? Wait, what do you mean?”

Mr. Tarleton cleared his throat. “If you’re done, Mr. Stark.” He chided, “We have vector functions to talk about.”

Tony waved his hand for Tarleton to go on, and leaned back in his chair. Now he had to worry about this stupid play, which he never thought would happen. He ripped a sheet of graph paper from his binder, resting his head on his hand and prepared for first period’s very own boring Calc 2 lecture.

XXXX

Natasha made cheerleading. And she was still shocked about it.

Last Tuesday, at the start of her free period, she was being dragged by Jan—this was probably going to be a reoccurring thing if they were gonna be friends—to see the list, which was posted outside Coach Danvers office in the gym.

“I wonder which one we made? Football? Basketball? I’m so excited!” Jan squealed. Natasha gave her a small smile folding her arms as she followed behind her. “Don’t assume we all made it, Jan. Especially me.”

“What are you talking about? You did a great job. We all did. They’d be crazy not to let us on the team.”

Natasha huffed out a sigh, stopping in front of the list. She scanned it carefully, making sure her name hadn’t made it.

_Maximoff, Morse, Page, Rogue…Romanoff…_

Natasha froze. Why was her name there? Why was it under _football cheerleaders_?

“I made basketball. Eh, I’ll take it. At least Patsy’s basketball too. Did you find your name?”

Natasha cleared her throat. “Nope. Not there. Oh well. Let’s go—”

“Wait, there you are!” Jan piped up. “Football? You made football! That’s awesome!”

“That’s _not_ awesome. That’s not awesome at all. Steve and Thor are on the football team.”

Jan sighed. “Oh, come on. I can understand not wanting to do it because Tony’s on the team, but Steve and Thor are the most trustworthy guys in this school. Are you scared they’ll laugh at you or something?”

“They know better than to laugh at me.”

“See? There you go. More reason to do it. You already have enough power over them, they won’t bat an eyelash. Problem solved.” She looked back at the list. “You have practice tonight. Don’t you guys study on Tuesdays?”

“Shit.” Natasha ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll make up something. This stays between us, okay?”

Jan smiled. “Safe with me. I’m getting food.”

The two girls walked in opposite directions out of the gym, Natasha’s stomach twisting. _Of all the sports, it had to be that one._

Now, it’s been a week since she found out, and has managed to keep her cheerleading a secret from the study group. They didn’t really question her when she told them she couldn’t make it to study sessions, which is exactly what she wanted. But, her first cheerleader debut was at the second football game, which was on Thursday.

Natasha was sitting in second period English, trying her hardest to stay awake. Wanda had been working the team like crazy; her, Bobbi and Anna Marie hadn’t left until close to nine last night. When they did leave, though, Bobbi thought it would be a great idea to get food from one of those 24-hour pancake joints. She had a great time, but she didn’t get home until eleven. She also has to come in early from now on to talk to Coulson about study materials, since her free periods have been dedicated to practicing routines in the gym, with the help of Coach Danvers.

“Natasha?”

She turned to Bruce. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Natasha sat up in her chair. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“You sure about that?”

She sighed, running a hand over her face. “I’m just…I’m just tired.”

“You haven’t been to study sessions lately. Is it something happening at home?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no. Everything at home is fine.” She smirked. “I talked to Stark this morning. You know how that goes.”

Bruce chuckled. “Right, that can take a lot out of you.” He paused. “You can talk to me. Y’know, if you need to.”

She nodded. “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.” She slapped the desk. “We do need to talk about this scene from Macbeth, though.”

“I was only half paying attention, so we’re both a little SOL.”

XXXX

Tony needed help. Which he hated to admit.

He had been slaving over this script for the entirety of his free period, which he usually spends tinkering or flirting, so the fact that he couldn’t do that just ruined his whole day.

He was sitting under a staircase on the first floor, where Thor spotted him on the way to his locker.

“Stark! How do you fare today?”

Tony groaned, throwing his head back. “Not great, tough guy. I got roped into this play by McCoy. I have to have these lines memorized by Thursday night.”

“Aye, the fall musical. It should be a joyous night. Why are you not excited?”

“Because I didn’t wanna do this play. It’s LaBeau’s fault he messed up his leg. He’s so selfish!”

“I don’t think he would purposely injure himself. LaBeau enjoys performing, does he not?”

“Nope, but it’s still his fault. Anybody forcing me into doing something is automatically at fault.”

Thor shrugged. “I’m sorry for your predicament. I will see you at the study session. Best of luck with the musical.”

“Later.”

Tony looked at his phone, gathering his things and slinking his bag over his shoulder. He walked down the hall and turned the corner, standing at his usual post outside of Steve and Bruce’s French class. The bell rang a few seconds later, the hall filling as students hurried off to fourth period. Steve and Bruce were the last people out of the classroom, both boys looking a little shaken.

“…Everything alright?” Tony asked slowly.

Steve blinked. “ _Les examen était impossible…_ ”

“English, Rogers. Come back to America.”

“We took a test, and it was insane.” Bruce translated. “Take our minds off of it.”

“Well,” Tony said, starting down the hall, “You’re looking at the star of the fall musical, unfortunately.”

Bruce snorted. “Yeah, okay. The only thing you’re a star of is being unbearable.”

“See, that’s the same thing I said! Kind of.” Steve piped up.

“Why is everyone so mean to me today? Anyway, McCoy roped me into it, I’m just doing my civic duty as a good student and person to agree.”

Steve, who was straggling behind them, walked up in between Tony and Bruce. “First of all, it’s not your civic duty to be a liar. You signed up as an understudy, and weren’t prepared to actually be in the play. Second, how’s that memorizing going?”

“Woah, hold on, a drama club understudy? You rag on them all the time!”

“Yeah, it’s justified, I could build better sets with my hands tied, but we won’t go into that.” Tony sighed. “Memorizing is not fun.”

“I’ll help you.” Steve said, “You need to be ready by Thursday right?”

Tony scoffed. “Of course you would. Sucks for you, you get to spend your free period with me.” He turned to Bruce. “Tell McKenzie I’m at the nurse’s office.”

“For a whole class period?” Bruce shook his head, standing in the doorway to their class. “Enjoy this detention you’re about to get.”

“Always do!” He called over his shoulder, walking ahead with Steve.

XXXX

“Who do you need me to play?”

Tony had managed to steal one of the study rooms at the back of the library, dropping the script in front of Steve and demanding he play—

“Rapunzel. I think I have a decent grasp of the lines, but I always have trouble with the scene in her tower.”

“Do you want me to pitch my voice? Will that add to the illusion?”

“I already regret agreeing to let you help.”

“What page am I going to?”

“15.”

Steve flipped through the packet, setting it down on the table. “Alright. Whenever you’re ready, Flynn.”

Tony looked at his hands, mentally finding his place in the script. “ _…Is this hair?_ ”

“ _Struggling is pointless._ ”

Tony glared at Steve’s higher pitched voice, but couldn’t help but smile. “ _Huh?_ ”

“ _I know why you’re here, and I’m not afraid of you._ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _Who are you, and how did you find me?_ ”

“ _I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say…_ Shit, what’s the line?”

“Hi.” Steve looked up at him. “You were not kidding when you said you were having trouble.”

“Cut the sass, Steve. _Hi. How ya doin’? The name’s Flynn Rider. How’s it goin’?_ ”

“ _Who else knows my location, Tony Stark?_ ”

“ _Alright, blondie—_ ”

“ _Steve._ ”

“I swear to God.”

Steve laughed, “Okay, I’m done, sorry. _Rapunzel._ ”

“Thank you. _Gesundheit. Here’s the deal. I was in a situation…galloping—_ ”

“Gallivanting.”

“Damnit. _Gallivanting through the forest. I came across your tower, and…Where is my satchel?_ ”

“ _I’ve hidden it somewhere you’ll never find it. Your locker_.”

“That’s not wrong, I wouldn’t think to look there.”

“It’s probably impossible, your locker is a disaster.” He flipped through the script again. “Is that all for that part?”

“Yeah, it’s near the end. I think it’s like, 46.”

Steve turned to the page, scanning the words. He looked up at Tony. “I am _not_ singing.”

“You don’t have to sing the whole thing. Just a little bit. One line.” He smirked, “I thought you wanted to help me!”

“None of this ‘guilt’ crap, Stark. I agreed to help, not to sing.” He sighed. “When you’re ready.”

“ _You okay?_ ”

“ _I’m terrified_.”

“ _Why?_ ”

“ _I’ve been looking out a window for 18 years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be?_ ”

“ _It will be._ ”

“ _And what if it is? What do I do then?_ ”

“ _Well, that’s the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream._ ” Tony looked at him, waggling his eyebrows.

Steve took a deep breath, “ _All those days…_ ” He mumbled. “ _Watching…from the windows. All those years, outside looking in. All that time, never even knowing, just how blind I’ve been._ ” He cleared his throat, eyes darting to the floor. “That alright?”

Tony was grinning ear to ear. “Steve Rogers is embarrassed. I’ve seen it all.”

“I don’t like singing.”

“You’re not bad, that’s the thing.” Tony sat up straight. “I’ll show you how it’s done. _All those days, chasing down a daydream. All those years, living in a blur. All that time, never truly seeing, things the way they were._ ”

“I’ve been serenaded by Tony Stark. We’ve both seen it all today.”

They chuckled for a second, fading into silence. “Hey, um, thanks. I appreciate this.”

“No problem, Flynn. Now, what’s next?”

Tony shook his head, leaning back in his chair. “28, Rapunzel.”

XXXX

“Run it again.”

Natasha groaned, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Bobbi was next to her, bending over with her hands on her knees. They were both exhausted.

“Coach…” Bobbi choked out, “We’ve…run it…four times…”

“On top of the laps you made us run earlier.”

“Did you think being a cheerleader would be easy?” Coach Danvers said. “Just grab some pom-poms and yell out some letters?”

Bobbi and Natasha exchanged a glance. “Kind of.” They said in unison.

Coach Danvers sighed, shaking her head. “More reason to run it again. Back in formation.”

What had she gotten herself into?

XXXX

Clint was having a cool day.

He felt like he aced his Econ test, and there was pizza for lunch. What could be better than that?

He sat down at the third table behind the nonfiction section, like every Tuesday and Thursday, and started pulling out his chemistry materials. They started talking about Lewis Structures, and he needed all the help he could get.

“Afternoon, Clint.” Bruce chimed, sitting down next to him. “What’re we talking about today?”

“Lewis Structures.”

“Hey, those are fun!”

“You’re the only person who thinks that.”

Thor and Steve came next, ringing off hellos. It was nearing 3:15 when Natasha swooped in, out of breath and still sweaty.

“Woah, where are you coming from that requires you to be that sweaty?” Clint teased.

Natasha smiled, “Obviously running away from my undying love for you.”

“Those straight thoughts will reach you one day, Nat.”

“If Clint and Natasha are done being an old married couple, we gotta do some chemistry.”

“Wait, where’s Stark?” Clint asked.

“He’s at play rehearsal.” Steve said, “Remy LaBeau broke his leg, and can’t perform in the musical. So, Tony, being his understudy, is officially the lead.”

Clint was silent, then suddenly burst into laughter. “That’s rich! He hates the drama club!”

“Same thing I said!” Bruce added.

“How about, instead of hitting the books so soon, we swing by the auditorium and give him…’moral support’?”

“If by moral support, you mean snicker in the crowd, you got yourself a deal.” Natasha stood up.

“I have high expectations for Stark! He will perform with great valor.”

“Thor, you have a little too much faith in Tony, and it kind of scares me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i started this when i was in high school and actually in chemistry. like i've basically repressed a lot of high school and a lot of chemistry. thank god my high school puts up chemistry powerpoints. y'all real.
> 
> also i've retconned their class schedules like four times so i'm sorry if that makes you mad but it's permanent now the way it is. thanks for readin btw!
> 
> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	7. A Study in Politics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce Banner is running for president. Or Tony Stark. Clint Barton? Who's the brain behind this campaign anyway?

“Good afternoon, students of Midtown High School! President Gwen Stacy here.”

It was Tuesday, and the study group had just gotten comfortable at their familiar third table earlier than usual. Coulson requested they study during seventh period, since their upcoming chemistry quiz had a lot to remember on it, and he wanted to make sure Clint was ready.

Tony had just started a story involving trying to make a remote a functioning laser, and a very displeased, but interested father, but was now ticked off that Gwen Stacy had to interrupt.

“She never makes announcements in the afternoon, let alone this late in the day.” Steve pondered.

“Probably just wanted to remind the student body her dad’s a cop and to ‘make good choices’ or something.” Tony snickered.

“As some of you may know, I will not be finishing my senior year here at Midtown. I’ll be moving in three weeks. That means, we need a new face to lead the student body. Since I don’t have a vice president, we’ll be holding a sporadic class president election! We’ll only be accepting self-nominations from seniors, and you must run with a vice-president. Elections will take place next Tuesday. If you would like to run, please fill out a ballot in the main office. It’s been an honor being your student body president, and I will miss this school. Have a great day, Avengers. Stacy out.” The PA system crackled out, the library filling with silence again.

“I already had a bunch of people pop up in my head for who might run.” Clint chirped.

“If one of them was Scott Summers, then we’re more alike than I thought.” Tony observed.

“It totally was!” Clint jumped up from his seat and shuffled over to Tony, promptly sharing a high five, and shuffling back.

“…Anyway.” Natasha said slowly, “I think one of us should run. That would be interesting.”

“Thor.” Bruce, Tony and Clint said in unison.

Thor looked up from his bag of chips, shaking his head. “Nay, I know nothing of American politics. I would not know what to do with such a title.”

“Government is required here. You should probably take government.” Bruce reckoned.

“I took it the year prior. The class was quite boring.”

“If you think that’s boring, try keeping up with real politics.”

“Bruce, what if you ran?” Steve spoke up. Bruce looked up, Steve staring at him from across the table.

“Me? Why me?” Bruce stammered, “No one knows me here, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“You don’t have to ‘stand a chance’, you could just run and see what happens. You’re smart, and you can be persuasive when you want to be.”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.” Natasha chimed in. “I mean, I wouldn’t win because the whole student body knows I would turn this school into a totalitarian regime, Tony’s clearly out of the question, Thor…doesn’t understand government, apparently, Clint’s a bonehead, and Steve…wait, Steve, why don’t you want to run?”

“Football. I would like to, but it takes up a lot of my time. Plus, leading a whole body of people doesn’t sound like my style. Now, 11 people on a field? I can do that.”

“Steve has football. See? You’re Midtown’s last hope Bruce.”

Bruce scanned the table, seeing five hopeful faces staring back at him. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, sinking slightly into his chair. Was he really about to run for class president? He’s blended in so well in this school, people have forgotten about him. What if he lost? Or worse, what if he won?

He took a deep breath, opening his eyes. “I’ll only run if you guys help with my campaign. All of you.”

“Deal.”

“Oh, hell yeah!”

“Of course.”

“Aye!”

“Looks like we’re in the presence of our next president.”

Bruce sat up in his chair, a shy smile pulling at his lips. Maybe this wouldn’t be terrible.

When seventh period ended, the study group closed their books, and began to outline Bruce’s campaign, throwing around ideas like dodgeballs.

“You need a vice president first.” Natasha said, “You can pick whoever you want.”

“Hmm…Tony?”

“Thank God! I need my voice heard in this government.”

“Sweet Jesus. Good luck with him, Bruce.” Clint covered his face with his hands.

“Alright, cool, so our campaign should emphasize on the voices of the students.” Tony explained. “That was the one thing under Stacy’s rule we didn’t have enough of. Things were decided without our knowledge. The homecoming theme, for instance. Fantasy? Who agreed to that?”

Bruce nodded, “I like that. I feel like we could add more to that. Let’s go fill out this ballot before the office closes for the day. You guys can start like, planning out flyers or something. I give you guys creative control.” He stood up from his seat, him and Tony leaving the library.

Clint rummaged through his backpack for scrap paper. “He’s gonna regret that decision, isn’t he?”

“Indeed! Let’s put puppies on the flyers! Even the strongest warrior cannot resist a puppy!”

“Thor…I like it. This is already some great brainstorming.”

XXXX

On Wednesday, Bruce and Tony were officially in the running for student body president and vice president. Running against them were Scott Summers and Pietro Maximoff, Felicia Hardy and Angelica Jones, and, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, Wade Wilson and Peter Parker.

When Bruce walked into first period Environmental Science, he was met with every pair of eyes on him, and hushed voices. He swallowed thickly, walking to his seat in the corner. Someone tapped on his shoulder, Bruce whipping around behind him. It was Doreen Green, a small, quiet girl he usually talked to in this class.

“You’re running for president?” She asked, keeping her voice low. He nodded, “Yeah, me and Tony Stark.”

“That’s awesome! It’ll be a nice change up from Gwen, and the rest of the candidates. It’s kind of like a popularity contest, so it’s cool to see someone who actually cares about the school running, and not just someone in it for the status.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks.” He said softly, turning back around as the bell rang. He felt a little better about running. Sure, Doreen was only one person, but it was one person who thought him running was a good idea. That was good enough for him.

XXXX

Bruce walked into the hall during fourth period History, seeing posters and flyers tacked and taped all over the walls. Slogans and mottos were everywhere, making Bruce’s head spin a little.

_For the purr-fect president, vote Hardy/Jones!_

_We fight for your right to learn. Vote Summers/Maximoff_

_Vote for us, or whatever. Yeah! Wilson/Parker!_

He was a little surprised he didn’t see any flyers for him—how else did people know he was running?

Then he saw it.

Plastered on the wall between the main hallway staircases, a giant poster.

_Banner/Stark. The Right Decision._

He sighed, placing his hand over his face. Could that be more ‘in-your-face’?

“Banner!”

Bruce flinched, turning around and seeing Clint walking towards him, carrying a large duffle bag.

“Hi, Clint.” He choked out, turning back to the poster.

“Do you like it? We all had conflicting ideas, but after you went home, Stark and I figured something out. One big poster is better than a bunch of small ones.”

Bruce tilted his head slightly. “I kind of like small posters…” He said quietly. He cleared his throat. “It’s great, though, really. The art turned out really nice.”

“Great! Also, there’s gonna be a debate at lunch tomorrow. It’s you and Summers.”

“Summers? Scott Summers?”

“Yeah, he’s probably our biggest competition right now. But, we’ll show him team Bruce doesn’t fuck around!” He clapped a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “You’ll do great. See you then.” He started back down the hallway, leaving Bruce to himself and the large poster. He gulped, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

He wasn’t prepared in the slightest.

XXXX

The lunch room was lit that Thursday with anticipation. All eyes were on the stairs leading up to the lunch line, where Scott Summers and Pietro Maximoff stood, along with Bruce and Tony. Bruce was a trembling mess; Tony tried his best to keep him calm. He knew what would happen if Bruce got _too_ antsy.

“Alright!” Hank McCoy, drama club director and impromptu debate moderator, yelled. The cafeteria calmed down to a dull roar. “Today, we have a debate between presidential candidates Scott Summers and Bruce Banner. We have three students with three questions. This will be a clean debate. No name calling, and no physical fighting. Answer their question, and move on. We good?”

Tony threw a thumbs up, Bruce nodding. Hank McCoy, drama club director clapped his hands together. “Okay. Bruce Banner has won the coin toss, so he’ll answer first. Our first question.”

Kitty Pryde walked up next to Hank McCoy. “Hi guys. What is your opinion on the attention given to fine arts programs versus athletics?”

Bruce took a deep breath. “Well, um, I think fine arts and athletics are important for a well-rounded student body, so they should be given the same amount of attention. Everyone has different interests, we should celebrate difference, not celebrate just one thing.”

The cafeteria applauded, Bruce smiling and standing up straight.

“Scott Summers, you have the floor.”

Scott adjusted his glasses. “Well, going against Bruce’s statement, I think by celebrating difference, we should recognize that different extracurricular activities require different amounts of attention and funding. Sports require more funds than most fine arts programs. To celebrate difference, we need to acknowledge realism.”

The cafeteria applauded again. “These guys are really neutral.” Bruce whispered to Tony.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them on our side.” Tony whispered back.

“Our second question is from a faculty member.” Hank McCoy said, standing next to Mrs. Munroe.

“Hello Bruce, Scott. Do you think our student government does its best to fully represent the students? If not, how will you better represent your peers?”

Bruce swallowed hard. “I, uh, I—”

“We believe,” Tony spoke up, wrapping his arm around Bruce’s shoulders. “That our student government does a bang up job representing us. They make decisions without us, and don’t listen when we tell them we don’t appreciate it. With Bruce and I in office, we will make the students voices heard, and we will work our hardest to make sure that remains long after we graduate.”

The cafeteria applauded, more whoops and hooray’s being heard from the crowd this time. Bruce let out the breath he was holding. He didn’t really like how anarchist Tony’s statement sounded; he was just glad he didn’t stand there and stutter like an idiot.

“Scott Summers, your response.”

“I believe that Bruce Banner is running for president, not Tony Stark. But I digress. The student government does a fine job representing our students. They give students countless opportunities to have their voices heard; you all collectively ignore it. When I’m elected into office, I will not change a thing. Our government works, and has worked since it was instituted.”

“How can we ignore an opportunity when it hasn’t even been presented to us?” Tony spat.

“I don’t know, maybe if you listened to people instead of talking over them. How can you represent the students when you won’t even let their voices ring over your own?”

The cafeteria rattled in ‘ooo’s.

“Our third and final question.”

Sue Storm stood next to Hank McCoy. “Hey guys. How will you handle acts of discrimination in clubs? Examples being, our male sports teams will not let females of equal to superior caliber join them, simply because she is a woman, while men still can’t join the cheerleading squad, which we have been fighting to change for three years.”

“Easy. Any students caught discriminating other students will go to trial. They’ll automatically be suspended, and the trial will determine if further action will be needed. Midtown High School doesn’t have the tolerance or time for hate and discrimination.”

The cafeteria erupted, Tony throwing up peace signs, and throwing smug looks to Scott Summers. Bruce’s heart was racing. Why would Tony throw out such grandiose promises that they mostly likely won’t uphold?

“Scott Summers, your response.” Hank McCoy shouted over the crowd.

“My opponent is right, Midtown High doesn’t have time for discrimination. They will be dealt with in an orderly fashion, and will be taken off the premise.”

Once the cafeteria had finally calmed down, Hank McCoy, drama club director, spoke again.

“Thank you for your cooperation during this debate. Voting takes place this Tuesday. Tomorrow, Wade Wilson and Felicia Hardy will have their debate. Until then, enjoy your lunch!”

Bruce walked off the stairs and sat down at a nearby table, his head spinning. That was much more than he bargained for.

“Bruce!” Clint and Natasha ran over to him.

“Hey guys. Did you see the debate?” Bruce asked weakly.

“It was incredible!” Clint exclaimed. “Did you hear that crowd? They loved you! This election is in the bag!”

“It’s not in the bag yet, Clint. Wade and Felicia still have to go tomorrow.” She bit back a grin. “But you and Tony did fantastic. Wait until Steve and Thor hear about this.”

“Yeah…They’ll be excited.”

Why wasn’t he?

XXXX

That afternoon at the study session, Bruce wasn’t really _there_ with his friends. His mind was going elsewhere. He was thinking about the election, about being president. They did get a really good response after his debate. But it wasn’t him who got it; it was Tony.

Bruce’s thoughts and beliefs didn’t really shine in the debate. Unless students came up to him and asked him about them (which has only happened once, thank you Mr. Strange), then they only knew about Tony’s plan for office.

“Bruce? You okay?” Clint asked. “You’ve been really quiet today.”

“I’m okay. I’m just…thinking about the election.” He said.

“I’m so pumped. Team Bruce has basically won already.”

“Aye, I heard the debate went marvelously!” Thor bellowed. “I wished to have been in attendance.”

“Me too.” Steve chimed in. “I’m proud of you, Banner.”

Bruce waved his hand, “Nah, it wasn’t that exciting.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Tony cried. “It was incredible! I had never felt so in charge and drunk with power in my life. Bruce, once we get into office, it’s gonna be wild. It’s gonna be amazing. We’re gonna change this school directly from the inside!”

Bruce gave him a weak smile, and returned to reading his book. His friends were more invested in this election than he was. That said enough right there.

XXXX

Tuesday was Election Day. The day everyone was waiting for. Except for Bruce.

That whole weekend, his mind was all over the place about this damn election. He went into it with an innocent outlook, and then everything turned upside down. He didn’t know what to do.

He sat at lunch with the ballot in front of him. He bubbled in the circle next to the candidate, and folded it up. He shoved it in his backpack before Clint and Natasha came back from the lunch line.

“Did you vote yet?” Clint asked as he ripped open a bag of chips.

Bruce nodded. “Yeah. I’m gonna take it to the ballot box after lunch.”

“Good luck, Bruce.” Natasha murmured. “No matter what happens, this was a good experience, and we’re all still proud of you.”

He smiled at his tray, rolling around some peas. “Thanks, Nat. I’m…proud of us, too.”

He took it to the main office once the bell rang and dropped it in the ballot box on the secretary’s desk, turning on his heels to walk away. Miss. Hill stepped into the main office, stopping and smiling at him.

“Afternoon, Bruce. You excited about the election?”

“Actually…I wanted to talk to you about that.”

XXXX

Seventh period was over in 10 minutes. Bruce was in his free period, sitting under the staircase on the west side of the school, close to the library. The PA crackled, Miss. Hill’s voice coming on. Bruce took a deep breath, resting his head against the wall.

“Afternoon, students. This is Vice Principal Hill with the results from the sporadic presidential election. Winning the election by just one vote, your new student body president and vice president…Wade Wilson and Peter Parker.”

Bruce let out a breath of relief. That’s who he voted for.

He picked up his backpack and headed to the library, where he was positive the study group was already there.

“Bruce!”

He was right.

“What the hell! How did we lose?!” Tony yelled. “We had it in the bag! You were there! We’ve been robbed! Let’s go to Hill right now and demand a recount!”

Bruce smiled, setting his bag down on the table. “I dropped out of the race last minute.”

“WHAT?!” The five said in unison.

“Yeah. I realized this wasn’t _my_ election. It was your election. All five of you. When Tony stood up on the stairs at the debate, yelling about trials and trashing our student government, I knew this wasn’t my race anymore.” He took his notebook out of his backpack. “So I voted for Wade. I heard him at the debate. He’s got good ideas. Sure, he’s got a few screws loose. But he’s got good intentions. So he got my vote.”

Bruce was met with silence, and a few defeated sighs.

“Sorry, Bruce.” Clint muttered. “We got carried away.”

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have made a good president anyway. I kept zoning out during Scott’s answers at the debate. Imagine me trying to listen to student’s problems.”

Tony leaned back in his chair with his arms folded. “I think we would’ve been great in office, but whatever, now we gotta call the chimichanga prince ‘president’ now.”

“Tony,” Steve said, “You would’ve been a monster in office.”

Natasha chuckled. “Putting people on trial? What are you on?”

“JUSTICE!”

“I still believe the posters required more puppies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was so much fun to write oh my god
> 
> this may have sounded like a 13 year old wrote it but i swear i am a functioning adult
> 
> thanks for reading kiddos
> 
> LINKS  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	8. A Study in Families

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The study group has a new assignment in Health class: raise a child. A water balloon child, that is.

They weren’t really aware that they had health class together.

They had been a study group for almost a month, and they never really noticed that scattered around the room were the same people they spent each Tuesday and Thursday with.

Clint slid into the classroom about a minute after the bell rang on Thursday, sitting next Natasha. He let out a breath, turning to look at her.

“Afternoon, Nat.”

“You must think you’re so slick, right?” Natasha smirked, not looking up from her book.

“I don’t think, I know. See? She’s not even here yet. I’m actually early today.”

“Good afternoon.” Ms. Grey sauntered in, carrying a large cooler. She set it down on a table in the front of the room, flipping open the lid. “And no, Mr. Barton, I saw you running down the hall. Granted, you’re earlier than usual, but you’re still late. See me after class.”

The students snickered, Clint folding his arms across his chest.

Ms. Grey took a water balloon from the cooler. “Catch!” She threw it in Steve’s direction, who thankfully caught it.

“Now, I’m not starting a water balloon fight just for the hell of it. This is my weird way of introducing a new project.” She reached into the cooler and pulled out another water balloon. “You and a partner will raise a child, which will be played by this water balloon.”

She walked around the room, passing out the assignment sheet. “You will raise your child for one week, write a reflection paper about the experience, and grade your partner on three things: cooperation, attitude, and overall treatment of your child. You will name your baby, give it a little face, and make a holder to carry your child in; because that makes it more exciting.”

The class immediately started scanning the room to find a partner. Ms. Grey put her hands up, “Not so fast. I chose your partners for you.” The students groaned.

“I already know who you guys would pick, and I know it’ll end in a majority of the groups coming to me needing a new water balloon. That being said, if you end the week with the same water balloon, you have the opportunity to get full credit. If you need another balloon, you have the chance to get 80%. Just know that the more balloons you need, the lower your grade will be. Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, your partners. There’s two lists taped to the board. Find your name, your partner, and sit next to them.”

Everyone stood up and high tailed it to the board, crowding to see the list. Clint stood in the back of the group with Tony, avoiding having to push past people.

“Who do you think you got stuck with?” Tony nudged him. Clint shrugged, “Knowing how much I annoy Grey with my fashionable tardiness, she’ll probably put me by myself. Make it ten-times harder for me.”

“I mean, you did bring that on yourself.”

“Hey now—oh, here comes your partner.” Clint looked down at his feet, holding in a laugh.

“Hey Tony!” Tony’s Designated Pain-in-his-Side Hank Pym said cheerfully. “Look likes we’re parents!”

Tony exhaled sharply through his nose. “Grab the kid and let’s go.” He muttered, giving Clint a pleading look.

“Mazel tov.” Clint nodded to Tony, miserably slinking to his seat next to hank. Clint walked up to the list, his name was close to the top, paired with someone named Barbara Morse.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, a blonde girl just a tad shorter than him looking at him with her arms crossed. “Clint?”

“Yeah. Barbara?”

“Call me Bobbi.” She pushed past him, scooping up a blue balloon from the cooler, and walking back to the desks. He followed her, scanning the classroom. Steve was paired up with Bruce, Thor was with Jane, and Natasha was with Sam Wilson, student body treasurer and track and field extraordinaire. Clint slid into a seat next to Bobbi, resting his head on his hands. He kind of wished he could work with Natasha. They would’ve been great parents, and they would’ve had a great time.

“So,” Bobbi said, cradling the balloon in her hands. “We have a child.”

“It’s a boy!” Clint spiced it up with some jazz fingers.

“It’s a balloon.”

XXXX

Natasha left fifth period health with a red water balloon in a very weird cardboard carrier. Her name was Stella.

She was working with Sam Wilson, who she’d known prior to this health project; he would run laps with her after cheer practice. He was a pretty cool guy, and she knew they would get an A on the assignment.

They would trade off having Stella every other day, since that was the easiest way to do it. She would hold onto Stella for the weekend; she was probably hanging out with the study group and with her girlfriends, so the kid would be fine in her room at home.

But for now, she could finally relax during her free period. Her first game as a cheerleader was about two weeks ago, and no one noticed it was her on the field. Even Coach Danvers pulled her aside to tell her she did well.

“Nat! Wait up!”

Natasha turned around, Bobbi walking towards her. “Where’s your baby?”

“He’s with Clint for the rest of today. We named him Chip. He’s a beautiful little thing…also, you didn’t warn me about how cute he is.”

Natasha tensed, pursing her lips. “I was supposed to warn you?”

“From now on, warn me about cute guys. “

Natasha chuckled. “Sorry. What are you doing for our first free period off?”

Bobbi shrugged, “I dunno. I think I might just hang out in the gym. Sam and Barnes hang out there when we’re not practicing. You should join us.”

Natasha’s face softened. She had planned to hang out with Clint at the archery ground, since she had only been there twice since she became a cheerleader.

She tilted her head. “Barnes. James Barnes. Right?”

“Bucky? Yeah, that’s Bucky. You haven’t met him? Him and Steve are super close.”

“No. I’ve heard of him from Steve.”

“He’s on the baseball team, I think you’ll like him. He kind of reminds me of you.”

Natasha nudged Bobbi, “Hey, no one is similar to me. I highly doubt he’s a psycho redhead with trust issues. But yeah, I’ll meet him.”

“Trust issues? We have a lot to talk about.”

XXXX

“I can’t believe we’re having a balloon play date.”

“We get extra credit, so deal with it.”

Tony was in Steve’s house. He didn’t think this would be the reason for his first visit here.

They were told by Ms. Grey they had the opportunity for extra credit, which was literally having a playdate for your balloons. They had to write a paragraph about the experience, so it was a good chance to study for their Calc 2 exam on Friday.

“You know, this wasn’t what I thought your house would look like.”

Steve looked up from his binder, a half smile forming on his face. “What, did you think it’d be red, white and blue?”

“That, and I’m waiting for a secret mock NFL Hall of Fame room with your face all over it.”

He chuckled, setting his pencil on the table. “Jesus, Stark, what do you take me for?”

“A warm-blooded, pure hearted American.” He looked around his kitchen, silence befalling over them. “Where are your parents?”

“They died ten years ago.”

Tony shut his open mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay. You didn’t know. I’ve lived with a family friend and his mom ever since. You probably know him.”

“Do I?”

The front door slammed. “Steve? You home?”

“Kitchen.”

A boy around their age walked into the kitchen, with chin length brown hair shooting in all directions.

“Stark! How’s it going?”

Tony shrugged, “Hanging in there.”

“Didn’t your mom tell you not to come in here smelling like a dumpster?” Steve teased. Bucky punched Steve’s shoulder, “I’m going back out, I’ve got conditioning.”

“Were you not at conditioning?”

“Rigorous sex on Principal Fury’s desk.” He called, swinging open the refrigerator.

Steve rolled his eyes, “So you hijacked football practice? Again?”

“They were talking smack about the baseball team.” He took a gulp from a huge water bottle. “Had to show them they were wrong. What’re you skipping practice for?”

“I’m with child, and I have a math exam tomorrow that I’m not prepared for.”

Bucky poked his head out from around the corner. “With _what_?”

“We’re raising water balloons for health.” Tony chimed in.

Bucky nodded, “Oh, got it. Nat’s carrying around one of those, too. Grey’s officially lost it.” He walked out of the kitchen, and started up a flight of stairs. “I’ll be back later tonight, tell mom to not wait up.”

“Bye.”

There was silence, then feet running back down the stairs. “Have fun with your _boyfriend_!” Then the door slammed.

Tony looked up, Steve looking in the direction of the door. He turned back to Tony, looking back down at the table with a blush creeping on his face.

“Steve?”

“What?”

Tony sighed, shaking his head and biting back a smile. “Nothing. Should we write this thing for extra credit?”

“Yeah. We can do that.”

Tony started to tear out a sheet of paper, then stopped. “Wait, how does Barnes know Natasha?”

Steve looked up, raising a brow. “He’s never mentioned her before. Maybe they’re friends now.”

“Natasha doesn’t make friends, she makes allies. Or scapegoats. Either way. Friends? No.”

“I see her with Bobbi Morse a lot. Maybe they’re all friends. She talks to people outside of the study group, I’m positive.”

“Scapegoat. All scapegoats. We’re all trapped in the spider’s web. Something’s gonna happen, and we’re gonna be a meat shield.”

“Tony, you’re losing it.”

“Well, I’m your boyfriend I guess, so you’re stuck with it.”

“I’m going to kill Bucky.”

“Rapunzel doesn’t kill people.”

“…And I’m going to kill you when I’m done with him.”

XXXX

Their child popped.

Clint was waiting for Bobbi at the east staircase to take the baby for the day that Monday before his free period, since she kept him over the weekend. She was down the hall, he could clearly see her, and she stopped to talk to someone. He was already a little concerned; this part of the hallway was unusually crowded today. She turned around to walk back towards him, and someone bumped into her—the cradle went flying in front of her.

Clint darted down the hall, diving to it, but he was too late. The cradle landed, the water balloon still in one piece. He reached out for it, someone’s giant boot clomping down, smashing the balloon.

“Dude, what the hell!?” The murderer exclaimed, stomping away from the scene.

The hallway thinned out, Clint and Bobbi standing over the destroyed cradle, and the remainder of their child.

“Chip…” Clint choked out, folding his arms across his chest. “He was so young…”

“I’m so sorry.” Bobbi said quickly. “This is my fault. I should’ve just kept walking instead of talking to Jan. Damnit, there goes our grade!”

“It’s not your fault.” Clint said, “It’s _our_ fault. We’re parents, right? We have to take responsibility.” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get another baby, and do the extra credit. Maybe we’ll still have a chance for a decent grade if we do that.”

She looked up at him, nodding. “Yeah. Let’s do that. I’m sorry.” They started walking to the north end of campus to Grey’s classroom.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He got an idea. “I know how you could make it up to me.”

Bobbi raised a brow, “What?”

“Buy me ice cream?”

Bobbi breathed out a laugh. “Fine. Ice cream works.”

XXXX

“Do you have to run over the cheer again? This’ll be the third time!”

Natasha and Anna Marie were practicing for the homecoming game, which was next Friday. Wanda made it their longest routine yet, with complicated moves and more flips than the first two routines combined. She wondered where Bobbi was; she was the one who complained about this routine the most at practice on Friday.

“Run the music, Barnes!” Anna Marie hollered.

“Y’all need to take a break.” Sam Wilson stood up from the gym floor, where he was sitting next to his and Natasha's water balloon baby, grabbing Bucky by his collar before he could go back to the boom box. “You’re gonna work yourselves to death.”

“You’ve never met Wanda Maximoff then.” Natasha panted, running a hand through her damp hair. “We run it at least five times during practice, and that’s after we work out.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Bucky said, “Her brother works himself at track practice to the point where ‘Maximoff is throwing up’ is a marker for how much time is left until we can leave.”

“I guess it just runs in the family then.” Natasha shrugged, “But we’re really gonna need you to run the music again.”

Sam sighed, walking over to the boom box. Natasha and Anna Marie returned to their marks, waiting in the hollowed silence of the gym. The music started, the girls bursting into the choreography.

The routine was going smoothly, until Anna Marie messed up a cartwheel, falling to the floor with a thud, bursting into laughter. Natasha smiled, stopping in the middle of her dance, signaling Bucky to cut the music.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked, reaching out her arm. Anna Marie took her hand with a grin, dusting her pants off. “I’m alright, I’m alright. That might be a sign that we’re done for today.”

“Cheerleading?”

Natasha looked up, her face falling. “Steve.”

“How long have you been on the team?” He walked towards her with his arms folded and a sincere look in his eyes. Natasha bit the inside of her lip. “Since the second game.”

“Wait, really? How have I not noticed you?”

“Because you’re a bonehead.” Bucky called. Steve ignored him, shaking his head. “You’re good. That’s all I wanted to say.”

“Thanks. Could you not tell the guys, though?”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Now, if you’re done playing proud father,” Sam appeared behind him, clapping a hand on his shoulder, “You need to go back to class.”

“I’m going, I’m going. I’ll see you later, Nat.” He turned around and walked towards Bucky, where he said something to him in a low voice. Natasha turned away from them, looking back at Anna Marie.

“Again?” She asked.

“Of course. Sam, run it back!”

“I feel like I’m assisting suicide.”

XXXX

Their week with their child was up, and Thor wasn’t ready to part with his baby.

“Thor, we have to pop the balloon.” Jane Foster, science extraordinaire and probably the only person at Midtown High School who could handle Thor Odinson, murmured to him during Health on Thursday.

“I’ve grown attached to the child, Jane. I cannot just…kill him!”

“He’s a balloon.”

“He is my own!”

Jane sighed, raising her hand. Ms. Grey walked over to their corner of the room. “What’s the rule about keeping the balloon?”

“Once I have your paper and your evaluation sheet, do whatever you want with the balloon. Just don’t throw it at anyone.”

Jane turned back to Thor, who was holding the cradle against him. “You can keep him, but don’t come to me crying once he pops.”

“I will take care of him, and treat him like my own son—”

Water spurted from Thor’s fist, Jane getting a first row experience.

“Did you just…squish Tyr in your fist?”

Thor lowered his closed fist, opening it slowly. Inside were the green latex contents of his son. Thor looked down at his hands.

“Do you need a minute?”

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lowkey didn't expect to get over 400 hits since i started this story again but wow. thank you!!
> 
> LINKS  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	9. A Study in Yes and No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homecoming is here, and everybody is trying to find a date. What could go wrong?

Homecoming was upon Midtown High School. The first big dance of the year, and the whole school was buzzing. Left and right, people were standing in the hallways with big signs and bouquets in hopes of being chosen to have an escort to the dance.

Tony was still trying to figure out who to ask. He was going to homecoming; he always does. He just didn’t know which fish to catch.

He was sitting in the library on Tuesday, a table in the dead center, during his free period, people-watching.

There was Emma Frost, his favorite temptress, sitting alone at one of the computer desktops. He couldn’t ask her, though. They hooked up once, and it was incredible, but she wasn’t much interested in anything else. Not even a goodbye.

Then there’s Angelica Jones, perusing the book shelf, who was a sweet girl. They made out once, but she grew attached to him quickly. If he asked her, she wouldn’t get off his back, and he didn’t want to string her along.

For a brief second, he considered Justin Hammer, who was two tables over. It was one of those hookups he regretted; it was angry and fast and there was alcohol involved, and they both vowed to never talk about it again.

Tony sighed, resting his head on the table. This was harder than he thought it’d be.

“Tony Stark, in a library?”

Tony turned around, a redhead sitting down across from him. She smiled at him. “I’ve seen it all.”

“Pepper Potts gracing the school with her presence. Where have you been?”

She sighed, flipping through a notebook. “I’ve been trying to keep student government from falling apart.”

“You don’t have faith in Wade Wilson?”

Pepper shot him a glare. “I didn’t think it was possible to have negative faith in someone, but, Wilson proved me wrong. He’s tried to ban pants, and make every day pizza day.”

“I could get on board with the pizza idea. You’ve been student secretary since you were a freshman, you’ve worked with three presidents. How hard could this be?”

“Helen Cho was my mentor, Peggy Carter was responsible and respected, and Gwen Stacy was mellow and relatable. Wade Wilson is impulsive and vulgar. I don’t do impulsive and vulgar.”

“You associate with me, though. I’m as impulsive and vulgar as they come.”

“That’s different, you’re my friend, and Wade is my job.” She covered her face with her hands. “If I have to sit through one more random outburst of cancelling math classes and school-wide pantsing day, I’m going to blow a gasket.”

Tony shrugged, “Banner told me he had good ideas. He wasn’t lying. What’s Parker like?”

“Peter’s okay. He’s just…very shy, and is constantly annoyed by Wade. He has decent ideas though, and he’s really been pushing for fundraisers and charity events, which is great, honestly. I’m just surprised they’re best friends, but at the same time, I’m not. They balance each other out.” She rested her elbows on the table, cradling her chin on her fists. “Take my mind off student government. What’s new with you? How’s that study group going?”

“Study group’s fine, but I need a homecoming date.”

“You could take me, if you want.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but I wanted a…romantic evening, if you catch my drift.”

Pepper frowned. “Gross. I’m fine as a backup option, unless you can get Monica Rambeau to notice me and whisk me away. Actually, _can_ you do that? I’d love you forever.”

“I swear, you’re only into the tough ones.”

“I like girls that can kick my ass, is that so bad?”

“Pepper Potts’ kink is now on the table.”

XXXX

Natasha didn’t care about homecoming. Jan didn’t like that.

She was sitting in fourth period Latin, Jan Van Dyne barking in her ear about this dance. She had never been to homecoming; it was a big excuse to spend money and have a mediocre time in the gym. She had better things to spend money on, and she always had a mediocre time in the gym, ask Bucky Barnes.

“You’re going to homecoming. You’re going to homecoming, you’re coming with us, and you’re going to have fun.”

“ _Nolo attendere_.” Natasha shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “I swear, you’re always the one bugging me about things I don’t want to do.”

“Is it because you don’t have a date? It won’t be hard to find you a date, you’re a goddess.”

Natasha hated herself for blushing. “It’s not that. It’s never been my style. Dressing up, standing around in a sweaty gym. Gross.”

“It’s fun because you’re with friends!”

She groaned, leaning her head back. She looked back up at Jan, who was looking a little defeated.

“You’re my friend, Jan. Just know that. What time does it start?”

Jan squealed, clapping her hands together. “Awesome! Okay, so, the plan is, we’re all going out to eat before—”

“Woah, who’s ‘we’?”

“Us and the study group. It’s gonna be a big group of us.”

She groaned again. “I thought this was gonna be a girls thing?”

“Well, Bobbi told me she’s taking Clint, and I’m asking Bruce, so we might as well just bring the whole gang.”

Natasha swallowed hard. When did that happen? When had they ever talked? Clint was the first person in mind for her to ask. This was so weird.

Her brows furrowed. “Bruce? Why Bruce?”

Jan shrugged, looking down at her desk. “I dunno, he’s cute, and he’s smart. I wanna get to know him better. I’m gonna ask him after this class.”

“Not wasting any time. Is homecoming that serious?”

“It’s high school. Isn’t everything a little too serious?”

XXXX

Bruce walked out of his History classroom, feeling a bit out of it. He was up late last night working on some experiments, and lost track of time. The second he closed his eyes, his alarm went off. He was running on empty.

“Bruce!”

He turned around, Jan Van Dyne walking towards him. He smiled, waving. “Hi, Jan.”

“How was class?” She asked, walking with him.

He shrugged, “It was okay, I guess. History can only be so enthralling.”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

His eyebrows raised. “What is it?”

“Are you going to homecoming?”

He scratched his head, “I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know who to ask.”

“Well, maybe you could go with me?”

Bruce’s eyes widened. “…Me? And…and you?”

“Yeah.” She quickly put her hands up. “You don’t have to answer right away, if you don’t want to. Sorry for putting you on the spot like this.”

“Uhh…”

“I’ll let you think about it. Let me know soon.” She rang off a goodbye and headed in the opposite direction, Bruce stopping in the middle of the hallway. What?

“Home…coming…” Bruce breathed out, starting his walk to Health again. He had never been asked to homecoming since he got to high school. Hell, he hasn’t gone on a date since coming to high school. Middle school ones didn’t count. Right? Well, he _did_ almost kiss Betty Ross after the eighth grade formal, but does that really—

“You gonna go to class, or you gonna drift off to another dimension?”

Bruce flinched, turning around. Darcy Lewis stood a few feet from him, her arms folded and a smirk on her face. “Hi, Bruce.”

“H-Hi Darcy.”

Bruce tutored Darcy in Pre-Calculus, which was every Wednesday after school, and she also happened to live in his apartment complex. He would be lying if he said he didn’t have a small crush on her. She was witty and took no nonsense, which he found endearing.

“Don’t you have class? You’re gonna be late.” Bruce choked out.

Darcy waved her hand. “It’s just History. I think McKenzie will survive if I’m not there on time. I’m glad I found you, I wanted to pose something to you.”

“Is it about tutoring?”

“Nah, but I still appreciate it and still need it. Math isn’t my forte in the slightest. You wanna go to homecoming with me?”

Bruce’s eyes widened again. Okay, this had to be a joke. This wasn’t real.

“…You? And…and me?”

Darcy raised an eyebrow, looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I think that’s how it went. How about it?”

Bruce opened his mouth, then promptly shut it. He looked down at the ground, then back up at Darcy, raising his hand, then lowering it.

“You are all over the place, man! Did I break you? Error 404?”

The bell rang, both of them looking up, then back at each other. She clapped her hands together. “How about, you let me know later? Is that better?”

Bruce nodded, waving goodbye as Darcy turned down the hallway. He walked into Ms. Grey’s classroom, sitting down next to Tony.

“Woah, Banner, you’re late. Is the world ending?”

Bruce glanced at him, then reached into his backpack for his notebook. “Yeah, it might be.”

XXXX

Natasha sat on the gym floor with her usual posse, but this time, Clint was with them. He was sitting in between her and Bobbi, mostly keeping to himself.

“Feel out of place without your bow and bull’s-eye?” Natasha said, low enough for him to hear it, since Bucky and Sam were diving into a story about the time they saw what was under Principal Fury’s eyepatch.

Clint smirked, looking down at the gym floor. “Kind of. This is where you’ve been this whole time?”

“After a while, you need a break from Barton and arrows ripping through the air.”

“You liked it, don’t even lie.”

“I like that you’re here even more.”

Clint was quiet, looking back up at the people around him.

“Did Jan attack y’all about homecoming?” Anna Marie said, who was sprawled out on the floor. “She’s tryin’ to get a huge group together, which will only end up chaotic.”

“She was talking about everyone coordinating colors and shit.” Bobbi sighed, “Jan Van Dyne is the definition of extra.”

“Homecoming’s lame.” Bucky spoke up, throwing a tennis ball over his head. “I went freshmen year, and that was a mistake. Mostly because I went with Steve, and the football team took him away so I was either by myself or with this guy.” He nudged Sam.

“Homecoming’s only lame because homeboy can’t find himself a date.” Sam teased.

“Woah, woah, I can find a date.” Bucky turned to Natasha. “Nat, you wanna go to homecoming with me?”

“Well, where’s my flowers? My sign with a terrible pun on it?”

“You can have all that and more if you say yes.”

“Fine.”

Bucky turned to Sam. “Now, what was that?”

Sam shrugged. “Alright. Proved me wrong, then.” He nodded at Clint. “What about you? You going to homecoming?”

Clint looked up, pointing to Bobbi. “I was ambused.”

“That sounds like somethin’ Bobbi would do.” Anna Marie snickered. Bobbi leaned over and punched her arm. “I asked politely, like a person. How did Remy ask you?”

“He took me out to lunch to our favorite steak place and asked me there. It was great.”

Anna Marie received fake gags from her friends, sitting up and scolding them. Natasha laughed, glancing at Clint. He was smiling, but he still looked a little uneasy.

The bell rang, the six people standing up off the floor, shelling out some last insults and laughs before parting ways to their final class of the day.

“So? How did the gym treat you?” Natasha asked Clint as he was turning to leave. He looked at her, shrugging. “It was cool. I’ll be back tomorrow, unfortunately.”

“You never told me you were taking Bobbi to homecoming, ladies man.”

He shrugged again, “It was sudden. We got kinda close during the Health project.”

“Nat!”

Both of them turned around, Bucky hiking his backpack over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you after school.” Natasha said.

“We actually have to study today, so don’t sit there and roast Stark and his new haircut for like fifteen minutes again.”

“It was totally justified, that was a train wreck.”

“…Okay, true, but still. I’ll see you then.”

He walked towards the north door and out the gym, Natasha walking back towards Bucky.

“I was serious about homecoming. Do you wanna go with me?”

Natasha smiled, looking up at him. “I was serious about my answer. Yes, but I want flowers and a sign with a stupid pun.”

Bucky smiled back at her, walking towards the east doors. “You’ll get it. When you least expect it, though.” He called over his shoulder.

She bit back a grin, looking at her feet. Well, she’s going to homecoming. She didn’t expect that to happen.

XXXX

Tony was the first one at the library. He had no idea who to take to this damn dance. He had asked four different people, and they were all going with someone else. He was desperate.

“Afternoon, Anthony.”

“Go to homecoming with me?”

Natasha stopped in the middle of putting her bag on the table, looking at Tony with furrowed brows. “I already have a date…”

Tony groaned, letting his head hit the table. “Everyone already has a date! Why is this so hard?”

“The great Tony Stark doesn’t have a date to a high school dance?” Natasha gasped. “How will the world go one?!”

“Knock it off, Spider, this is serious. Tony Stark has always had a date to homecoming, and I won’t let this be the first year I fly solo. Think of my rep!”

“As the geeky playboy?”

“Exactly!”

Natasha rolled her eyes, fumbling through her bag. “Ask Steve.”

Tony raised a brow. “Why would I ask Steve?”

“He’s your friend, and I’m pretty sure he’ll go with you. Plus, you two have gotten close lately.” Natasha gave him a small smile, which kind of scared him, but he snapped out of it quickly.

“That’s…not a bad idea, actually. Y’know, you have good ideas sometimes.”

“Oh, boy. Thanks.”

“Guys.” Bruce appeared, sliding into his seat adjacent from Natasha. “I have a problem.”

“There can’t be a problem too hard for Bruce Banner to solve.” Tony said.

“I can’t solve this one. I got asked to homecoming by two girls.”

“What’s the big deal?” Tony leaned back in his chair. “Take them both.”

“I’m not you, Tony. I’m only taking one of them. But I don’t know who.”

“Who asked you?” Natasha inquired.

“Jan Van Dyne and Darcy Lewis.”

Tony leaned forward, his chair hitting the ground. “Darcy and Jan? Okay, you _have_ to take them both.”

“I don’t even know why Jan asked me, we haven’t really talked. Maybe she lost a bet?”

“Or she genuinely wants to take you to the dance. Wait, how do you know Darcy?”

"Tutoring isn't just a thing I do with you guys."

“Someone just got asked to homecoming!”

Three heads turned, Clint, Steve and Thor walking in, Steve carrying a big bouquet of roses.

Tony cursed in his head. There goes his last option; an option he was kind of hoping would work out.

“Sharon Carter!” Clint exclaimed, patting Steve on the back. “You hit the jackpot. She’s like, everything you’d want in a person.”

Steve gently pushed him off of him, taking his seat across from Bruce. “Chill out, stop making it a big deal.”

“It’s clearly a big deal if she got you that big ass bouquet.” Natasha teased. “Did she make it a big thing?”

“Not really—”

“She sang to him.” Thor chimed in. “She enlisted the help of the band members, and personally wrote Rogers a song.”

Tony was still cursing in his mind. Fuck, that was good.

“That’s impressive.”

“It was nice, but it’s not a big deal. Nobody's asking Thor how Jane asked him.”

"Okay, to satisfy the man of the hour," Natasha leaned on the table, "Thor, how did Jane ask you?"

"She made a question on my History exam a Yes or No to her request to escort me to homecoming."

"Awe!"

"Alright, now that we're done talking about homecoming," Steve set his flowers in the middle of the table. "Can we study?"

“We can’t.” Tony spoke up. “Bruce has a problem.”

“Are you alright, Banner? Are you hurt?”

“No, no. I got asked by two different girls, Jan and Darcy Lewis.”

Clint snapped back upright from rummaging through his backpack. “Darcy?! Go with Darcy! She’s the best. We sit together in English.”

“I think you should take Lady Van Dyne.” Thor interjected. “She is a fine woman, and a fine teacher.”

Bruce let his head his the table. “This has never happened to me before. I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, well, who do you _want_ to take?”

Five heads turned to look at Steve, who shrugged. “What?”

Bruce slowly lifted his head up, clenching his jaw. “If I knew who I wanted to take, would I have opened my mouth?”

“Woah, okay, Bruce, let’s come back down to Earth.” Clint stammered, resting his hand on his back. “Who do you think you’d have more fun with? And don’t think, just say it.”

“Well, Darcy, but—” He stopped. Clint smirked, brushing the metaphorical dust off his shoulders. “I think I should take Darcy.” He stood up, “I need to find Jan.”

“Bruce?”

He looked up, Jan Van Dyne peeking out from behind the book shelf.

“Jan.”

“Hi. Can I talk to you? Hi guys!”

The study group rang off mildly awkward hellos, Bruce walking over to her. They walked further down the book shelf aisle, away from the table.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, too. I think—”

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t go to homecoming with you.”

Bruce’s face softened. Jan continued. “I’m sorry, Hank Pym asked me, and I just think—”

“No, it’s okay. Go with Hank. I don’t think you’d have fun with me as your date anyway.”

Jan frowned. “I’m sorry. I feel bad! I probably made you late for class today. You’ll still be in our homecoming group, right?”

“What?”

“Ask Natasha, she’ll tell you. I’ll see you guys Saturday. Thanks for understanding.” And with that, she was gone in a flash.

Bruce hung back for a minute, processing what just happened. He should’ve been offended, or at least a little upset. But, he was too concerned with finding Darcy than to be mad about this. She was probably in the downstairs computer lab, so he darted off to find her.

Meanwhile, back at the study table, Tony took out his phone, shooting a text to Pepper.

_Still willing to be my date?_

Pepper responded quickly.

_I wasn’t asked by my dream girl, so, looks like we’re stuck with each other._

He sighed, resting his head on his hand. Well, he wasn’t going to get the homecoming he wanted, but at least he found a date.

“Oh, Jan wanted me to tell you guys we’re all joining her homecoming group. So, that’s a thing.”

“Wait, a group? That’s like, twelve of us! What restaurant is gonna serve us?”

“The kind that wants money.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i forgot that anna marie had a southern accent so i just suddenly started writing it in??? and this WHOLE TIME i mistook anna marie for anna maria. all the name errors are fixed now damn i'm SORRY Y'ALL i'm inconsistent as hell/a mess
> 
> also lesbian pepper is my favorite thing in the world and you can't stop me
> 
> LINKYS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr) (follow me i'm close to my next hundred)


	10. A Study in Fine Dining & Breathing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the homecoming dance, but Tony, resident playboy, isn't really feeling it, and he doesn't really know why. Natasha knows exactly why.

“Ow, I can put on my own tie.”

“Oh, please, you can barely tie your own shoes.”

D-Day was here; the homecoming dance. To put it bluntly, Tony wasn’t all that excited for this dance; he just wanted to make his appearance, and leave early to get drunk. That was the tradition, as of this very moment. Pepper, however, wasn’t too fond of that plan.

“I can’t believe you want to ditch this dance to go down some shots with Rhodey.”

“The man can only come home from college for so many weekends, Pepper. You’re actually holding me back from seeing my best friend, who I miss dearly. Do you not have a heart?”

“I shelled out twenty bucks for this ticket, and this dress wasn’t cheap, either. You’ve got plenty of other times to get drunk with your buddies, we’re staying for the whole dance.”

“But Pep, alcohol!”

“But Tony, I don’t care!”

Pepper stood up off the bed after brushing off Tony’s shoulders, Tony sitting there with his arms folded and a signature pout on his face. She fished her phone out of his clutch, and sighed. “We’ve gotta meet Jan and the others at the restaurant soon. Also, we’re meeting Jan and the others at a restaurant before homecoming?”

Tony threw his hands up. “Don’t ask me, I was told by Natasha, I just relayed the message. I hope you brought money.”

“Chivalry really is dead.” She tilted her head, “You’re usually so excited about homecoming. What’s your problem?”

Tony shrugged, laying back on his bed. “I don’t know. I’m just not really feeling it this year. I don’t really know why, either.”

“Is it because you didn’t get the date you wanted?”

“No. It’s probably because you won’t let me leave early to drink. That’s selfish and hurtful, and now I’m not really in the mood to dance.”

“You better be in the mood for eating. Grab your keys, let’s go.”

Tony sat up with a groan, standing up and swiping his car keys off his dresser. He reached out for the door knob, turning to look at Pepper.

“Are you ready? Do you have everything?”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah. Do it.”

Tony swung open the door, bolting down the stairs and gripping Pepper’s wrist.

“Tony! Pepper!” His mom, equipped with a clunky camera, called for them as she pushed herself off the couch. “Wait, wait, wait! I need pictures!”

“No time, mom, we’re gonna be late for dinner, don’t wait up!” He threw open the front door.

“Bye, Mrs. Stark!” Pepper called, grabbing the door behind her and slamming it shut.

“Are we clear?”

“Don’t stop, Pepper, get in the car!” Tony was already jumping into the driver’s seat. Pepper quickly shuffled to the passenger side, swinging open the door and jumping in. Tony’s mom was outside in second, still waving around her camera.

“Get out of the car and let me take pictures!” She yelled, which they could hear clearly, even in the safety of the car.

Tony kicked on the engine, peeling out of the driveway, and burning rubber away from his house. They both let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

“Three years.” Pepper breathed out. “Have you not told her we don’t do pictures?”

“I have. She won’t listen. Especially not this year, she’s pre-empty nest syndrome and suddenly wants pictures of everything. I promised that she could take pictures for prom.”

“Aw, I was ready for the challenge. Running to your car in heels _and_ a gown, now, that takes skill.” She leaned her head back against the seat. “Okay, so where’s this restaurant at?”

“It’s that Italian place I always asked you to go with me to, but you were always ‘busy’ with ‘student government’.”

“Are you air-quoting a real thing that actually happens?”

“First you don’t let me spend time with my friends, and now you’re being sassy with me. Y’know, I may have to prematurely fire you as my date.”

“Too late, we’re already in the car, and like you said, you don’t want to fly solo.”

Tony sighed, smiling and gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. He took a right into a parking lot, and cruised into a space. He could see Bruce and Clint standing outside awkwardly with their dates, along with Jan, and—

Tony started up the car again.

“What are you doing?” Pepper asked slowly.

“We’re not going to this dinner.”

“What?”

“Hank Pym’s here, I’m not about to sit and eat with him. That’s not going to happen, I refuse.”

Pepper groaned, turning the engine off and tearing the key out of the ignition before Tony could put the car into drive. “No.” She stuffed his key in her bra. “Get out of the car. Jesus, you are so difficult today.”

Pepper hopped out of the car, Tony doing the same, slamming the door and walking towards his friends. And Hank Pym. He wasn’t going in that generality.

“Tony!” Jan exclaimed. “You made it!”

“We were worried you wouldn’t show up.” Hank Pym chuckled, Tony exhaling through his nose. “Hi, Jan. Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re inside. There weren’t enough seats for everyone in the front, so some of us stood out here.” Hank held open the door, motioning the others to go through. Bruce stood next to Tony, choking on a laugh. “You can’t even hide it right now.”

“When do I ever try? Let’s get this over with.”

Just as they were walking inside, a waitress was leading their big group to their table, Tony catching Steve’s eye. His stomach twisted, which confused him even further. Why was he not feeling this dance tonight, and why was he bunched up in knots?

Pepper nudged his shoulder with her own as they followed the group. “Who was that guy you blew off?”

“Hank Pym. It’s a long story.”

“It isn’t long,” Clint called over his shoulder. “He’s a baby who doesn’t like to talk about his feelings.”

Pepper snorted a laugh, Tony shutting his mouth. They were seated in a back room with a long table, likely reserved for parties as big as theirs. The hostess informed them that their server would be out shortly, and gently closed the blue painted wooden doors behind her. Tony and Pepper took the first half of the table on the left side of the room, which also seated Thor and Jane Foster, and Bruce and Darcy. The second half included Jan and Hank, Steve and Sharon Carter, Natasha and James Barnes, and Clint and Bobbi Morse. Tony looked at Steve, Sharon wrapped her arm around his as they both listened to Jan talk, and Tony took a gulp of ice water from the stemless wine glass in front of him, fidgeting in his seat. Knots. Just breathe, Stark, he thought, find your chill.

“So, Pepper,” Bruce said, flapping a napkin and placing it on his lap. “How’s student government? Tony tells us you’re a pretty big deal.”

Pepper shrugged, resting her elbow on the table. “I’m not _that_ big of a deal—”

“There’s no need for modesty, Pep, she basically runs the whole show herself. She should’ve been president, not Wilson.” Tony rested his arm on the back of Pepper’s chair.

“I heard from Emily Preston that he’s a nightmare,” Jane spoke up. “You really are a warrior for dealing with him.”

“Nah, Wilson’s alright.” Darcy said, folding her napkin this way and that. “Be glad Scott Summers isn’t president.”

Pepper sucked a breath through her teeth. “He’s high maintenance. Very on edge. Working with him would feel like this is really our United States government, and he’s going to take us to war.”

“He made me apologize for _him_ bumping into _me_ once.” Bruce shook his head. “I’ll take Wade Wilson any day.”

Their waitress came by, and after almost five minutes of ‘umm’s and ‘come back to me’s, their orders had been taken, and the conversations were polite. They had been there for about twenty minutes, and Tony didn’t want to cut his own head off yet. So, it was successful, for the moment.

“Darcy, don’t tell that story.” Jane hissed, biting into another forkful of pasta.

Darcy was bubbling in laughter, her face in her hands. “It’s so funny though! I never knew capes—”

Jane punched Darcy in the thigh, Darcy yelping and quickly covering her mouth with her hands. Pepper and Bruce were smiling, while Thor had his head tilted innocently.

“Jane, there’s no need to be embarrassed.” Thor reassured her, “It is just for fun.”

“What’s going on over there?”

The four giggling children, the pissed off mother, and the naïve father looked up, Steve looking at them with a corner of his lips tugging upward. Tony wiped his mouth on his napkin, looking down at his plate. “Nothing really, Jane’s super into roleplay, apparently.”

Pepper covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking in laughter.

“Thor, what have you done?” Clint chimed in, leaning forward in his chair.

“She reminds me of my homeland, when she wears the warrior garb. I cherish it very much.”

Bucky Barnes was losing it. “This is incredible!”

Jane sunk in her chair, Bruce patting her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“I only do it when he’s sad.” Jane muttered, covering her bright red face with her hands. “This is the worst.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Jane,” Clint said. “Tony sings the national anthem to Steve when he’s sad.”

“That happened once!” Tony and Steve said quickly in unison. “And it was a joke!” Tony added, folding his arms together.

Sharon rested her elbows on the table, grinning. “The national anthem?”

It was Steve’s turn to sink into the chair. “It’s a family thing, okay?”

“I can totally confirm that that’s bullshit.” Bucky crowed. “If you ever asked me or my mother to sing you the goddamn national anthem, I don’t care how big you are, that deserves a tackle.”

The whole group of teenagers broke into the national anthem, Steve’s face as red as the stripes on the flag.

“ _O say can you see_!”

“Check! We need the check!”

XXXX

The group left the restaurant about a half hour after the singing incident—they were actually asked to leave, but it was worth it.

So now, they were here, in the sweaty gym with sweaty bodies pressed against each other and high heeled shoes strewn all over the floor.

And Tony wasn’t even one of the sweaty bodies.

For the first hour, he hung out in a circle in the gym with Bruce, Clint, Pepper, Steve, and Bucky, but they all were picked off by their dates one by one to dance, until it was just him and Pepper. She made him have fun and dance, which was alright, but then Pepper was dragged off by some of her student government friends, and he was alone.

He was sitting on one of the cafeteria tables, about 45 minutes left of this dance, cradling his phone in one hand and downing another cup of water. He had a text conversation with Rhodey pulled up, the gray bubble with ellipses bouncing on the screen.

_You told me you could skip. What happened?_

Tony tapped away on his phone, the disc jockey poorly remixing a popular song, and Jesus, he wasn’t even trained in music and could put on a better show than this reject.

_Pepper happened. When’s your next break? We should be good then._

Rhodey responded quickly.

_I owe so much to the guy who bought me this stuff, you know. Don’t have too much fun tonight, then, because I’ll be at your house bright and early to punch you square in the jaw._

Tony huffed out a laugh, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. Fuck, he really wanted that to work out. Sure, dinner was fun, but this? This sucked.

Maybe because he was way too old to be grinding on sophomores. Yeah. That’s actually a big reason.

“Stark?”

Tony looked up, Natasha standing in front of him with her arms crossed and her face shiny with sweat.

“Did you get caught between two freshmen who think they know what they’re doing?” Tony smirked.

“No, but everyone was wondering where you were. You okay?” She stepped on the table bench, and sat on the table next to him, crossing her legs.

“I’m cool. Cool and collected.”

Natasha stared at him, her eyebrows furrowing. “…Right. Okay. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Pepper won’t let me leave and drink.”

“I mean, I understand why she won’t. But that’s not it. What’s _really_ bothering you?”

“…I don’t know. I just feel…weird.”

Natasha rested her hands behind her, leaning backwards. “You wanted Steve as your date.”

Tony looked at her. “Where’d you get that idea from?”

She chuckled. “You try and act like you’re complicated, but I can read you like a book.” She placed a hand on his leg. “You like Steve.”

“Steve’s my friend, I don’t like him like that. We don’t even hang out that much.”

“Oh, please, you’re at his house all the time, Bucky told me.”

“Damnit, Barnes.” He wiped a hand over his face.

“You’ve liked him since the day he came to the study sessions.”

“Okay, no, that’s—” He stopped, eyebrows furrowing and pointed finger going limp.

He was quiet for a long time. Natasha had beaten two levels of Candy Crush, which was impressive, when Tony jumped off the table.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, I like Steve.” He paced in front of her, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes locked on the ground.

“You said it out loud. Good.” Natasha nodded.

“But now what?”

She groaned, throwing her head back. She pushed herself off the table, standing in front of Tony. “You go into the gym.”

“Go into the gym.”

“…you find Steve…”

“Find Steve, okay.”

“…and you tell him that you like him.”

“And I tell him—wait, no, I can’t do that! What if he doesn’t like me too? Jesus, this is nerve wracking.”

“He likes you. Oh, my God, he likes you. Now, do exactly as I said, and you’ll feel better. Okay?”

“Y’know, I’m not a fan of you ordering me around like this—”

“Go!”

“Right, okay.” Tony turned on his heels and walked towards the big double doors leading into the gym, hesitating before swinging them open, the strobe light of the gym engulfing him.

“Finally.” Natasha breathed out, sitting back on the table. There was only a half hour left of this dance, so, she could just lay out here and look at lame YouTube videos, and when her friends come looking for her, she could say she was just in the bathroom—

“There you are!”

She looked up, the gym doors closing behind Bucky.

“Did you get lost and want me to hold your hand?” Natasha teased, pushing herself forward on the table. Bucky sat down next to her. “I was alone, so I started crying. None of the chaperones would help me find you, though.”

She laughed, running a hand through her hair. There was a beat of silence, then she looked at him.

“Thanks for asking me to this. It was fun, and you aren’t terrible company.”

Bucky shrugged, “No problem, and you’d be surprised how often I get that.”

“Though, I never got my sign and my flowers.”

“I think I can give you something better.”

Before she could ask what was possibly better than puns and roses, he had his hands on her face and he was kissing her.

Yeah, that was better.

XXXX

Go to the gym. Find Steve. Tell him.

Of course, when he figures out that he likes this meatball, it’s when everyone is squished together in a dark gym. Tony walked through the gym, squinting and pushing past people, as well as swearing to fight this DJ if he heard ‘Fancy’ one more time. Seriously, get with the times.

He saw Bruce, who was dancing with Darcy, Thor and Jane. Bruce noticed him, too, and waved him over.

“Hey!” He shouted over the music, once Tony had made his way over.

“I can’t talk now!” Tony yelled back. “I’m looking for Steve!”

“Oh! I think he’s near the visiting bleachers with Sharon!”

“Bruce, I could kiss you right now!”

“Don’t!”

Tony patted him on the shoulder, walking in between him and Darcy towards the bleachers on the left side of the gym. He scanned the stragglers against the bleachers, spotting Steve’s huge stature. He started walking over there, but his pace decreased the closer he got.

He saw Sharon drape her arms around Steve, and leaned up to kiss him.

Fuck, what was with his bad timing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is so embarrassing and fun im sorry but HEY ten chapters!! woop!! we just gettin warmed up  
> also it's amazing how often i change character tags/relationship tags bc like i said earlier i started writing this in high school and i had so many ideas that i don't want to do anymore. so that's my life. happy summer vacation.  
> also yes the title of the chapter is based off the episode of spongebob where squidward makes spongebob clear his mind except for fine dining and breathing
> 
> LINKZ  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	11. A Study in Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jan Van Dyne enlists the help of the study group at the yearly fall carnival post-Homecoming weekend. Everyone's got a little more on their mind than they thought.

Tony’s fingers were numb.

They had been pressed against something for a long time, unable to take it, to grab it, to even have the familiar pressure at the pads of his fingers. They were numb, and they were cold, and they wanted the sensation back.

But he couldn’t get it back.

He tuned out everything that Tuesday after Homecoming weekend. He was irritated with himself. How could you wait this long? Natasha was right, you’ve been sitting there all this time with it in the back of your mind, and you didn’t do anything. That isn’t like you. You lost your chance. A chance that you wanted, but never wanted to admit.

He walked right past Steve and Bruce’s French class that morning, rather than wait for them and walk to History, like he usually did, and they both watched him walk away.

Coulson almost called the nurse, stunned and a little worried about Tony’s lack of snarky comments during Chemistry.

He was back at his roost in the library with the study group, third table, like always, but he was more focused on his History homework than the conversation amongst his friends. He didn’t really react when Clint poked at his arm, or Natasha made dry passes about his wardrobe.

Bruce knew something was off, though. He knew

“Tony, you know hydro carbons like the back of your hand. You okay?”

Tony shrugged—mostly trying to shrug off Steve’s hard gaze on him. “It’s nothing—”

“Hey guys!”

Six heads turned to the nonfiction bookcase, Jan Van Dyne leaning against it.

“What’s up?” Natasha asked, closing her textbook.

“Am I being summoned for dance club?” Clint said in mild panic, sinking into his chair.

“No, but you do need to see Anna Marie at some point for a costume fitting.”

“Barton, you told me you were on top of that.” Thor interjected, looking at Clint with a stern expression. “What would possess you to lie?”

“You guys can work that out later, but right now, I need a favor.”

“What do you need?” Bruce turned around in his chair to face her.

“So, the fall carnival at the middle school is on Thursday, y’know, the one that the whole town goes to. And, apparently, the show choir is heading across the country that morning for a tournament this weekend, and the show choir was a huge chunk of the volunteers. Do you guys think you can help?”

The six exchanged glances, and Clint cleared his throat. “We’re in. What do you need?”

“We need two people on Tunnel of Terror on the playground and at one of the ticket tables, and one person on the basketball shootout, and the shooting range game.”

“I call shooting range.” Natasha said quickly, her hand springing up, earning a defeated grunt from Clint.

“I’ll take ticket table.” Steve said, looking at Tony. “Wanna do it with me?”

Tony stood up straight in his seat, “No can do, sport, because me and Barton are doing Tunnel of Terror.” He looked at Clint, “Right, Clint?”

“Aw yeah, Tunnel of Terror!” He held out his hand for a high five, Tony gladly returning it. He was relieved to not have to sit in an empty hallway with just Steve with the image of him and Sharon sucking face replaying in his head. He would take throwing on a Dracula costume over that any day.

“I shall man ticket table with you, Rogers.” Thor said, clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“That leaves Bruce on the basketball shootout.”

Bruce blinked. “I know _nothing_ about basketball.”

“You didn’t call ticket table fast enough.” Clint noted, this time leaning across the table, holding up a high five for Thor, which he enthusiastically returned, Clint hissing in pain. Thor didn’t know his own strength, so that was Clint’s fault.

“This means so much, guys, thank you. I’ll let the organizers know, and I’ll send you guys emails with more information.” Jan rang off a goodbye, leaving their table.

Tony caught Steve looking at him, blue eyes boring into his head. Steve knew something was up, and Tony wouldn’t give him the chance to ask. The second the clock struck 4:30, he was out of there like a bat out of Hell. He didn’t check to see if Steve was behind him or not, he just kept moving.

XXXX

“You come here after school now?”

“Well, my free periods are now taken up by hanging in the gym with you rejects, when else am I supposed to relax?”

Natasha and Clint were at the archery field after the study session. She asked him to hang out after school, since she felt bad that she’d spent a majority of her time in the gym with the others during their free period, and neglected to have one-on-one time like they had in the past. He said he had a great idea on how they could hang out.

And this was that idea.

“You at least brought food, right? I’m not about to be called a reject and spend my afternoon with a bully.”

“I bought donuts, does that work?”

Natasha shrugged, “I’ll take it.”

Clint dropped his backpack on the bench, walking his duffle bag over to the wooden pergola, the targets 70 meters ahead of him, noted by the metal sign drilled into the wall.

“Did you have fun at homecoming?” Natasha asked, pulling a bag of donuts out of Clint’s backpack.

“It was fun. Where’d you run off to? When we all got out of the gym, you were nowhere to be found. We couldn’t find Stark, either.”

Natasha’s eyebrows shot up as she took a bit of a chocolate glazed donut. “Um,” She said after swallowing, “I left with Bucky. And Tony, he left early with Pepper.”

Clint threw a glance at her over his shoulder, taking his bow out of his bag and shaking it back into shape with a _twang_. “Did you elope? Am I an uncle now?”

“Why do you assume you would be an uncle to my child?”

“C’mon, I’d be the best uncle. Crazy Uncle Clint gave the baby an arrow again!”

“All you did was confirm that you don’t need to be around children. Anyway, no, we didn’t elope. We went to the park, we were there for a while.”

“Ah. You missed it, though! We all went to a diner afterwards to get milkshakes, it was fun.”

“Because we _totally_ live in the 1950’s.”

Clint strapped his bag on his back, taking position at the faded white line on the dirt. “Bobbi and Steve fell asleep on each other in the booth, so Darcy and Jane tried to see how many spoons they could balance on their faces. The winner had to buy the other pancakes, because for some reason, they were really craving pancakes.”

Natasha snorted a laugh. “Really?”

“Yeah! Darcy won, but Thor ended up buying them both pancakes.” He steadied his first arrow, breathing in as he drew it back. He released the arrow, exhaling, the arrow ripping through the air and hitting the black ring.

“So, what did you and Bucky do at the park?” He asked as he reached back for his second arrow, pulling back and steadying it.

“We mostly just…talked. About a lot of things. It was nice. We…we’re…we’re dating, I guess.”

He released the arrow prematurely and exhaled through his nose sharply, the arrow sticking into the ground in front of the target. Dating? Bucky Barnes?

“…Oh.”

“Yeah…it’s weird, I know. But…it’s a good weird. I guess. It’s confusing.”

“If it’s confusing, then why are you dating?” He bit his lip. He didn’t mean to sound that hostile. He reached for his third arrow.

Natasha finished her donut, reaching into the bag for the second. “Dating is weird, but we like each other, but…dating?”

“Wow, Nat, I have never met a more clearly spoken person at this moment than yourself.”

“Shut up, it’s weird, okay? We’re just…taking it slow. One day at a time. I won’t call him my boyfriend yet, and you’re the only person that knows right now. And probably Steve, but Steve is nice to me and doesn’t have a big mouth.”

Clint smirked, released the fourth arrow from his hands. It hit the yellow center of the target. Alright, better. “I won’t tell the guys, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s it. Thanks.”

A comfortable silence fell over them for the next four arrows, Natasha pulling out a book from her bag and cracking it open, while Clint tried to see if it was possible to slice through one of the arrows already on the target.

“Do you like Bobbi?”

Clint paused before reaching for the ninth arrow, throwing a glance over his shoulder. “Why?”

“Curious.”

He drew back his arm. “I don’t know.” He let the arrow rip, hitting the center again. “She’s cool, she laughs at my jokes.”

“Is the bar that low?”

“You’re dating Bucky Barnes, you tell me.” He steadied his last arrow.

Natasha’s mouth quirked upwards. “Get an attitude again, one of those arrow is going for your head.”

Clint turned around, launching the last arrow at a tree behind the bench, about a foot from Natasha’s head. Natasha, not even flinching, raised a donut in the line of fire, the arrow taking it as it landed in the tree.

“That’s you if you get sassy again. I just wanted you to see it.”

Clint chuckled, dropping his bow in his bag. “Let’s go.”

“Wanna buy me a milkshake? It’ll make up for me not being there after Homecoming.”

“You threaten me, I bring you donuts, but you want me to buy you _more_ things?”

“I thought that was how our friendship was at this point.”

“…True.”

XXXX

Their study session was cancelled on Thursday—it took three of them to convince Coulson that they weren’t just blowing off their studies, and actually did volunteer for something. Granted, they made the mistake of sending just Tony to tell him, so of course that didn’t go according to plan—to help at the carnival.

Tony was on the playground with Clint, standing next to the entrance of a rickety plastic tube that stretched from one end of the playground to the other. They weren’t dressed up in shitty costumes, ready to scare children, like they had originally thought. Jan didn’t tell them they’d be in charge of keeping it organized, as well as maintenance; meaning, if someone happened to throw up or pee on the ground, it was their job to clean it. Tony didn’t have to heart to tell her the tunnel was on concrete, and all they needed to do was throw a cup of water over it, because Jan was freaking out about making sure everything ran smoothly, so he just kept it to himself.

“What’s been your deal this week, dude?” Clint asked, motioning the next three kids to head in, after they heard one of the middle school teachers’ scare the last group out of the tunnel. “You haven’t been yourself.”

“What do you mean?” He wasn’t as good as he thought he was at keeping his emotions private. “Cool and collected, that’s Tony Stark.”

“More like distraught and disconnected. See, I can use alliteration too.”

“Congratulations, you’re passing twelfth grade English.”

“Spit it out, Stark, what’s bothering you? You can trust me. You can’t keep your emotions bottled up, that’s what Thor taught me.”

Tony took a deep breath, motioning the next group to go through. “Homecoming is what’s bothering me.”

“Homecoming? What happened at Homecoming?”

“Well—” He looked at the line of parents and children in front of him. They didn’t need to know his business. He furrowed his brows and tried to pick his words.

“Okay. So, I wasn’t really feeling Homecoming that day. Like, at all. I was trying to ditch and hang out with Rhodey, and I had no idea why. Then—” A group of kids stepped up. “I met a Spider.”

“You met a…oh! Oh. I get it.”

“Right. I met a Spider. And she told me I was feeling off because I wanted to take St—Um, a mutual friend of ours to this dance. And, after like, a half hour of a lot of thinking and a lot of denial, I actually really like this mutual friend. Like, in a ‘why aren’t we making out yet?’ way.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“So, the Spider told me to find them, and tell them that I like them, but the mutual friend was kissing a princess in the gym.”

Clint crossed his arms. “First of all, congratulations. I knew you were clueless, but this is a whole new level.”

“Should I be offended? I should be offended. Later. Go ahead guys!”

“Second, so that’s why you’ve been in a funk? Because of your bad timing!?”

“It never really came to mind, okay? I just…like his company. That’s what I was focused on.”

“That’s the BIGGEST ‘I-like-him’ sign I have EVER HEARD.”

“Distractions, Barton.”

Clint sighed, motioning the next group in. “Look. I’m sorry your future husband kissed another girl. But, this is high school. High school sucks. Stuff like this happens. You can be bummed out, but you have to swallow your bruised pride and keep moving forward. There’s plenty of other people out there, if our ‘mutual friend’ doesn’t turn around.”

“Future husband? Now you’re mocking me.”

“Tough love is the phrase.”

Tony smiled. “I guess I’ll take that. Thanks.”

“I swear, without us, you’d be a blessed mess.”

“But blessed, nonetheless.”

Suddenly, a stream of water hit Tony square in the face. He frantically looked around, trying to find the kid he’d have to fight.

“What the hell was—agh!” Clint was hit next.

Anna Marie and Bobbi Morse were bolting back inside the middle school, the boys catching a glimpse of green and yellow water guns in their hands.

“Wow, real mature!” Clint shouted, shaking the water out of his hair. “Didn’t know we were still in middle school!”

“Hey!” Jan appeared, clipboard in hand and silly string in her hair.

“Hey, Jan. Nice look.” Clint said, holding in a laugh.

“Natasha got a task force together and ambushed me. She denied it, but I know it was her. You guys are free to go, we have two guys for now until closing. Thanks again for helping out, it means a lot. Enjoy the carnival!” She was pulled away by a pack of children before Tony and Clint could even thank her.

Scott Summers walked up to them, arms crossed and head high.

“Stark.”

Tony glared, “Summers.” He spat, walking away from the Tunnel of Terror with Clint.

“So,” Clint said as he and Tony walked towards the school. “What’s the plan? Shooting range, go see the magician?”

“We’re gonna find out where we can win water guns, and find Bobbi and Anna Marie.”

“Okay, I’m glad you suggested it, because I was thinking the same thing. Let’s do it.”

XXXX

Jan put them at the least active ticket table in the whole school.

Steve leaned back in the metal folding chair, the hallway in front of them empty, except for the few people leaving the building. He thought it would’ve been a swarm when the carnival opened; they barely had fifty people come through that door, and Jan came by and told him and Thor that this was the most people to attend since they started having it. He wouldn’t have known by the sales they made.

There was an eruption of cheering from the gym, both Steve and Thor turning to look in the general direction.

“I believe the magician is on.” Thor observed, turning back around and resting his head on his hand.

“I wanna see the magician…” Steve sank into his chair.

“Aye, as do I, but we have responsibilities.”

“You’re right. But it’s so dead up here. I wonder how the others are doing…the Tunnel of Terror is probably a blast.”

“Aren’t Stark and Barton working that venue? Speaking of Stark, are you aware of what ails him? I was concerned at our last study session.”

Steve crossed his arms. “Nope. We haven’t talked since Homecoming weekend. Every time I try to talk to him, he bolts.”

“Strange. The both of you have gotten close as of the last few weeks, and you’ve skipped football practice to be with him.”

Steve hated that he blushed at that. “Coach hates me for that. But…I can’t say it wasn’t worth it.”

“I’m still shocked you let Lady Carter kiss you at the Homecoming dance, on account of...” Thor trailed off, and glanced at him. “What about Stark? Have you given up on your plans to pursue him?”

He turned to look in Thor’s direction, looking at him, then down at the floor. “Yeah.” He said quietly. “I…didn’t get the timing right. I mean, I didn’t think Tony Stark would be interested in me anyway, of all people. It’s time I move on. Sharon’s great, really. We’ve only been ‘together’ for like, two weeks, but it's nothing too serious. I’m just gonna test the waters for now.”

Thor clapped a hand on his shoulder. “As long as you are happy, I am as well.”

A woman and two small children came in through the double doors, the kids running towards the table.

“We need three tickets!” The older girl said, Steve painting on a smile and ripping three tickets from the roll as Thor collected the money from the woman. He didn’t want to tell Thor he wasn’t all that happy; he didn’t have the heart to.

XXXX

“You want to _what?"_

Bruce was at the basketball shoot-out set up on the second gym, along with many other carnival games. It was surprisingly easy, even though he didn’t know a lick about basketball. He just told the attendees the objective of the game, and gladly gave out teddy bears.

“I wanna win you a bear.”

Bruce sighed. “If you win the bear, keep it. I’d rather you have it.”

“But I want you to have it. That’s why I said, ‘I wanna win you a bear’.”

“Keep the bear, Darcy.”

Darcy folded her arms. “Okay. How about, if I can successfully win the bear, you have to accept it, and, if you want, we can get burgers after this carnival. If I don’t win, the bear stays in its home, and we don’t have to go get food.”

Bruce’s eyebrows shot up. “So, this is how you’re asking me to hang out?”

“Essentially.”

“I never thought I would be a prize in a carnival game…why me?”

“Because you're fun, and hanging out with just Jane all the time can get a little tiring.”

Bruce glanced at the ground, then back at Darcy. He tossed her a basketball. “Make three shots to win.”

She tossed the ball into the air, banging on the rim and falling into the net.

“That’s one.”

She collected the ball from the bottom of the slide it rolled down on, shooting it again. It swished through the net, sliding down and coming back to her.

“Two.”

The ball flew through the air for the third time, hitting the backboard, and bouncing back down the slide, not even touching the net.

“Damn.” Darcy stuffed her hands into her black coat pocket, taking a few steps back. “I guess I’ll see you Wednesday, then.” She turned on her heels and started to skip off.

Bruce reached for the basketball, then stopped. Darcy was great. No, she was more than great, she was fantastic. She was funny, charming, smart. He had a blast with her at Homecoming, and she's beautiful. Would there ever be another opportunity for him to maybe...date someone like her? He bit his lip, exhaling through his nose.

“Wait, Darcy.”

She turned around, looking at Bruce with cool blue eyes and he felt his knees rattle a little.

“I get off in a half hour. I’m starving.”

She smiled, “I guess I can wait a half hour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey i finally put thor in for more than 2 lines. slow clap for marissa
> 
> LINKS  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	12. A Study in Campus Visits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is more than ready to go on a tour of his top choice college; he just didn't expect that his friends would want to go with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *NOTE: none of the colleges or residence halls mentioned are real! all fictional. any similarities are just coincidences. please don't sue i literally just write fanfiction

Bruce had been waiting patiently his visit to University of Downtown New York, also known as D-NY, for a long time. This school had been his top choice since sophomore year, when his father brought him there for alumni week. The STEM programs were incredible, and it was the perfect distance from home. He was basically set; he just needed to actually have a proper campus tour. He would drive the hour and a half to get downtown, go on the organized tour, meet up with some people he’d met in a STEM Major Facebook group for current and prospective students (sure, he wasn’t proud of saying that’s how he met these people, but they were potential friends, so that was something), and just spend the day soaking up what his life could be in the fall.

He told the study group that he couldn’t make it to the session on Thursday because of this visit, that he’d been waiting to schedule since this past spring, but visitation didn’t open up until the fall for prospective students, and trust and believe, Bruce was peeved about that. He got it, you’re a prestigious school, open your visitation earlier.

He didn’t expect to be driving to the university with Darcy in the passenger seat, and Clint and Tony in the back. He also didn’t expect to have Steve driving behind him with Thor, Natasha and Bobbi Morse.

“Why did you guys want to come with me again?” Bruce asked suddenly, turning down the radio.

“We’re basically your parents.” Darcy said, “We’ve gotta inspect the school, make sure it’s up to par for our little Brucey.”

“I don’t think I need six parents.”

“Well, we’re not all your parents.” Tony spoke up, “Clint’s mostly here to make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”

“And to actually look around campus!" Clint interjected. "But Natasha’s here to make sure me, Tony, and Bobbi don’t do anything stupid.”

“And Steve is here to make sure all of you don’t do something stupid.” Bruce finished.

“What about Darcy?”

“I asked to come like, a month ago, get off my back.”

“It’s true, she did.”

“Bruce, why do you talk to Darcy about your college endeavors, but not us?” Tony sniffled, leaning on Clint’s shoulder. “Maybe he’s too good for us. Have we washed up from Bruce’s radar?”

"I'm insanely offended."

“I think so, Stark. Might as well tuck and roll. It was nice being friends with you, Banner.”

“He will turn this car around!” Darcy shouted, “Shut up and keep your hands to yourselves!”

Tony lifted his head off Clint’s shoulder, exchanging glances and opting to just look out the window.

“Sorry, mom.” Tony muttered.

Darcy turned to Bruce, and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“You know, you need to come to study sessions from now on. Not even Natasha can get them under control that fast.”

“God, it worries me how much you do talk about them like they’re children.”

“Yeah, we’re grown ass men!”

“I will call Steve.”

XXXX

After a better-than-anticipated car ride, they made it to D-NY at noon, an hour before the tour was supposed to start.

Bruce and Steve parked in front of the student center, the Elliott Service center, and the big group of them gathered around Bruce and his map.

“Okay, so, the tour starts at the third floor of Service center. There’s restaurants to the west of where we’re standing that we can go to—”

“Or,” Tony rested his arm on Bruce’s shoulder, “We could disperse, and meet back here. What time does your tour end?”

“Well, it should end around three back at Service—”

“Alright, we’ll meet back here at three. We’re on a college campus! No school! Let’s enjoy it.”

Bruce groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I swear to God, if you guys aren’t back here at three, I’m leaving without you.”

“We will, don’t worry.” Natasha said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright!” Clint shouted, “College! Let’s explore!” The six of them went in separate directions, Clint and Tony walking one way, while Natasha, Steve, Thor and Bobbi going another, leaving Darcy and Bruce standing there.

He turned to Darcy. “You can go with them, if you want. I’m gonna meet some friends.”

“Nah, I’ll just tag along with you. I like meeting new people. What building are they in?”

“Well…okay, I mean, if you want. They’re in a dorm not too far from here, it’s called Tire Hall.”

“Tire?”

“I know.”

They walked in a comfortable silence, Darcy observing their surroundings, speaking up about the scenery here and there.

Bruce stole glances at her when he looked up from his map. Ever since Homecoming, they had been hanging out a lot more than he expected. He originally thought Darcy asked him out of pity; they hadn’t really talked outside of tutoring and friendly conversations in the hall. He wasn’t complaining that they were becoming friends, he was just more surprised by it than anything.

“Oh, I see Tire!”

Bruce snapped his head up, a building resembling a hotel straight ahead of them. He saw three people standing in front of it, his phone buzzing against his thigh. He whipped it out, a text from one of the people he was meeting showing up on his screen, letting him know they were sitting outside, waiting for him.

“Is that them?”

“Yup.”

“Bruce!”

Bruce and Darcy made it to Tire, two guys and a girl standing up to greet them.

“Um, this is my friend Darcy Lewis. Darcy, this is Reed.”

“Reed Richards, pleasure.” The taller one extended his hand, Darcy shaking it. “This is my roommate Kurt Wagner, and my friend Laurie Collins. Are you thinking of coming to D-NY?”

“I am, actually. Hopefully for Political Science.”

“Well, you’re both gonna love it here.” Laurie joined in. “Tire Hall is pretty special, because it’s specifically for STEM students. The basement is actually a lab, where every type of STEM major can work in.”

Bruce was absolutely giddy, and Darcy couldn’t help but smile. “I think he wants to see it. When he’s excited, he forgets how to use words.”

Kurt chuckled, “I understand how he feels.” He spoke with a thick German accent. “We will go in now.”

XXXX

Somehow, Bobbi, Natasha, Steve, and Thor had weaseled their way into one of the dining halls.

Well, not really weaseled. The student employee who swipes student ID’s to let them into the dining hall didn’t really care, and didn’t really ask any questions.

“Dude, this food sucks.” Bobbi frowned as Natasha sat down at their table with her tray. “I swear, I’ve seen a better looking chicken parm in a dumpster.”

“Because that’s definitely the first thing I wanted to hear after piling my tray.” She pushed around some shrimp with her fork. “This is supposed to be a seafood platter, but all I see is shrimp, probably from a can, and, hopefully, crab meat. These poor kids…”

“Friends!” Thor boomed, sliding into a seat next to Natasha, his tray stacked high with food. “Have you seen the ice cream bar? We must go to it! I saw ten flavors!” He happily dove into his hamburger. “I am greatly impressed. I may have to reconsider my future and attend here.”

“What was your original plan?” Natasha asked, taking a hopeful bite of her salmon.

“Not a very smart one, Lady Romanoff.”

“Why was the sandwich line so long?” Steve sighed, sitting down next to Bobbi. “College kids really love meatball subs.”

Bobbi took a closer look at his tray, seeing a napkin with black numbers scrawled on it. “Oh my God, Rogers, did someone give you their number?”

He looked down at his tray, picking up the napkin. “I don’t remember taking this from anybody…”

“We haven’t even been here for an hour and you’re already the new ladies’ man on the block.” Bobbi huffed out a laugh, shaking her head and taking a sip from her water.

“Sharon won’t be too happy to hear about this.” Natasha teased, earning an ‘ooo’ from Bobbi.

Steve’s face softened, gathering up his pulled pork sandwich, avoiding the comment. Natasha’s head tilted in confusion and concern, making a note in the back of her mind to ask him about Sharon.

“So,” Bobbi said, “Since we’re at a college, it feels right to ask this: What are you guys doing after graduation?”

Natasha shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, I kind of want to go to school. The atmosphere is nice.” She set her fork down. “My dad doesn’t want me to, though. Says it’s useless.”

“Well, screw him and do it.”

“College costs money, Bob. Some of them are way too expensive. Especially one like Crest…”

Steve looked up. “You got into Crest University?”

“What, like it’s hard?”

“Valiant! Congratulations, Lady Romanoff!”

Natasha looked down, “Thanks, Thor. I mean, yeah, I would like to go. Crest is prestigious as hell, but insanely expensive.” She shrugged. “I have time to figure it out. Let’s talk about something else. Bobbi! What are you doing after graduation?”

“Community college and a full time job.” She threw up a thumbs up, twirling her spoon in her soup. “I wanna go to university so badly. But, it just can’t happen. That’s how life works, I guess. Whatever. I’ll just visit you a bunch when you go to Crest.”

“That’s in Maine, you know.”

“And I’ll gladly drive my ass the whole seven hours to Maine. Granted, I’ll probably bring Jan with me, but still. I’ll get there.”

Thor set his empty cup down. “Since we are speaking of university, Rogers, are you going to tell them the wonderful news?”

“Wonderful news?”

Steve sighed, “Has anyone ever told you subtlety isn’t your strong suit?” He shrugged his shoulders. “I got a full ride to Mount Scott. Yay, can we move on now?”

Natasha leaned back in her chair. Mount Scott College was in Indiana. She immediately thought about Tony. She never actually found out why he and Steve weren’t dating already, and whenever she tried to ask him about what happened, he avoided the question. But now that Steve’s going to college in freaking Indiana, that puts everything on a timer. Graduation, Steve’s move. This fucked up a lot of things, and if Tony still wanted this to happen, which, of course he did, he had to get over whatever was bugging him and get on the stick—and soon.

XXXX

“God, it was a huge mistake coming here with you. I should’ve just gone with Bruce and taken the tour, had a clean, wholesome day, but no, you had to BREAK INTO A DORM BUILDING.”

Tony and Clint were somewhere on campus. They had no idea where they were, but they were far from Service center.

Tony followed behind a girl walking into her dorm, and he rushed to catch the door, motioning Clint to come inside.

So now, they were wandering around the halls of Howard Hall, which Tony only wanted to go into because that’s his dad’s name. Clint was ready to kill him for that reason alone.

They were walking on the first floor, a few doors open and dull music spilling out of them.

“Dude, let’s get out of here.”

“No, no, Clint. We’re fine. See? Just relax. Act like you belong.”

“Hey.”

The two turned around, looking up at a tall women with a clean shaven head standing behind them, her arms crossed.

“Are you two lost—Stark?”

Tony stood up straight, eyebrows furrowing. Then, his mouth opened, quirking into a smile.

“Heather Douglas. I almost didn’t recognize you! On account of…well, you’re bald. No offense.”

“Good observation. None taken.”

“How do you know her?”

“She went to Midtown!”

“He wouldn’t leave me alone in high school. I was the one that got away.” She extended her hand to Clint. “I never saw you around. You are?”

“Clint Barton. Nice to meet you.”

“What brings you two to D-NY?”

“We came with our friend, who’s going on a campus tour, so we decided to explore.”

“How did you end up in Howard?”

“I have my ways.” Tony dusted off his shoulders, Clint rolling his eyes. “He caught the open door and barged his way in.”

“That sounds about right.” Heather said. “If you guys are hungry, my roommate and I just ordered takeout. You’re welcome to join us.”

Tony and Clint exchanged glances. “Yeah, we’re down for that.” Clint said, following Heather to her room. He’d kill Tony after food. That was the plan now.

XXXX

“Bruce, don’t raise your hand again.”

“What? I have questions!”

“This is your eighth one!”

They had only been walking through the campus tour for about forty-five minutes. It took way longer than Darcy would like to admit to pry Bruce out of the Tire Hall lab. Bruce asked the three students a million questions, his eyes lighting up with every answer he got back. She was about ready to fight Reed when he mentioned a distinguished professor in their major that Bruce could meet, just as they were about to head out. They barely made it to the tour in time, and that’s what they came here for.

“What could you possibly need to know about a rec center?” Darcy rubbed her temples. “It has a basketball court, there’s ellipticals, boom! A rec center!”

“I just…I wanna make sure I know everything that I can before I confirm my admission.”

“No, you’re paranoid. D-NY is perfect for you. You literally said to me when we left Tire that you wished you could go back after the tour, which, you can.” Their group stopped in front of the football stadium.

“How else are Tony and Clint supposed to get home, then?”

“Steve has a trunk. Just lay down so he won’t get pulled over.”

“Darcy…”

“Okay, sorry.” She rested a hand on his shoulder. “This is your home. Like, you’re going here. The only person who will be more than pissed off if you decide not to is me, because I’ll never get those ten minutes of dragging you across campus back. Ever.”

Darcy’s face softened. “Besides, what’s the fun in knowing everything before you come here? That’s the fun of being somewhere new. Taking your time to learn as much as you can.”

Their tour guide said that it was time to head back to Service center, and Bruce checked his watch. Three PM exactly.

“You’re right, I guess.” Bruce said as they started their walk back, holding his head high. “And you didn’t have to drag me, that was your decision.”

“No way, I gave you gas money, this was not about to be just a trip of standing to the side while you cream yourself over Bunsen burners.”

“Hey, those were top notch burners, I had to marvel just a little.”

The group made it back to Service a little after three, Steve, Natasha, Bobbi and Thor just making their way to Steve and Bruce’s cars.

“See?” Natasha said, “No reason to worry.”

“Uh, maybe a little reason…” Steve spoke up. “Where’s Clint and Tony?”

“Present!”

Clint and Tony appeared next to Bruce, Tony covered in lipstick prints and Clint wiping pizza sauce off his cheek.

“…Did you guys have fun?” Bobbi said, covering her mouth as her shoulders shook with a laugh.

“College is fantastic.” Tony panted, zipping up his sweatshirt. “Bruce, go here. I’ll visit you all the time.”

“Get in the damn car.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. i know bruce went to cal-tech, i just wanted to make up my own university bc good lord i already had to learn my own university and that took forever and i'm not about to try and be accurate about one i didn't even know EXISTED  
> 2\. some stuff is loosely based off my own school. like the shitty dining hall food. specifically the one i worked at last semester. no ragrets
> 
> LINKS:  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr) (do y'all think i should track a tag on tumblr or smth. idk this has gotten a lot more hits then i expected in a day. like if someone blogs their reactions?? idk that sounds dumb lmao)


	13. A Study in Doorways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve get locked in the school after hours. Luckily, they have some people to keep them company.

Steve needed answers.

It had been two weeks since he and Tony had a full conversation. Even when they were studying for Chemistry, their interactions consisted of a few words and a goodbye.

He wanted to know what he did wrong, and how he could fix it. He wasn’t going to just let this continue.

He missed Tony. He missed his friend.

And he was sick of being in the dark.

4:30 hit them on Thursday, Tony doing his usually stint of bolting the second it was time to go. Steve rang off goodbyes as he followed Tony out of the library and down the hall.

“Think he’s finally gonna talk to Steve?” Clint asked Natasha in a low voice, putting his notebook into his backpack.

“He’s gonna have to corner him.” She observed, resting her elbow on the table. “But yeah. He’s just as over this as Steve is.”

Bucky appeared from behind one of the book shelves, pointing his thumb behind him, looking over his shoulder.

“We saw.” She nodded. “Finally.”

Steve was on Tony’s heels as he walked upstairs, presumably to his locker, which was weird, since Tony never goes to his locker. He stopped in front of the row of lockers and reached out for Tony’s shoulder, Tony flinching at his touch. He spun around and they looked at each other, the hallway empty but the two of them.

“What, Steve?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?” Steve exhaled sharply. “You’ve been avoiding me for days, and I don’t even know what I _did_.”

Tony turned around and swung open the locker door, scrap papers falling out. “Don’t worry about it.” He muttered, taking his backpack off his shoulder and stuffing a textbook into it.

“Put yourself in my shoes for two seconds, Stark. Someone you consider a…” He cleared his throat. “…good friend, suddenly stops talking to you for God knows why. Wouldn’t that bug you? Wouldn’t that eat you up inside? Make you feel like you did something irreversible?”

Tony didn’t answer, slamming his locker and draping his backpack over his shoulders again.

“Would you quit being selfish and think about other peoples’ feelings? You can’t just pull some isolation bullshit! I exist! Your friends exist!”

“I know you exist.” Tony turned around. His lips were pursed and his eyes were scanning Steve’s face. “I’m just…You're—”

The sound of a metal gate screeched across the linoleum floor, coming from many different directions. Steve and Tony looked around, then back at each other.

“…What was that?” Tony asked, his eyes darting.

“Were those…the stairwell gates?”

They met eyes again. “We’re not done here.” Steve said sternly, walking past Tony.

“Where are you going?”

“I have a bad feeling that those were definitely the stairwell gates.”

“Those can’t be, why would they be closing the gates this soon? It’s barely 4:35.”

Steve stopped at the staircase at the end of the hallway, the gate locked and pulled against a metal bar.

“Woah, when did they upgrade these?” Tony marveled, getting up close to the lock. “It’s got a keypad on the other side!”

“C’mon, there’s five other ones. They can’t all be locked.”

But they were.

The two made their way to the fifth staircase by the greenhouse, staring in defeat at the last closed gate.

They were stuck. They even checked the hidden staircases’ doors, but they were locked, and there didn’t seem to be a teacher on the floor.

“Fuck.” Tony sighed. “Seriously?”

“This has to be a mistake. Why would they all be closed this early?”

They started back down the hallway with no plan really; just walking. Thinking.

“Do you think maybe Pepper knows the lock passcode?” Steve suggested. “Maybe she could come back and let us out.”

“I can call her. Hopefully it won’t drop, since the reception in this school is garbage.” Tony quickly dialed Pepper and held the phone up to his ear, her voice shining through after a few garbled and chopped up rings.

“Hello?”

“Pep, do you know the passcodes to the stairwell gates? I guess they locked up early, and now me and Steve are stuck upstairs.”

Pepper sighed on the other end. “Shit. I forgot.”

“Forgot what? The codes?”

“No…”

A door behind them swung open, the two turning around. Pepper walked outside with slow clicks of her heels. She looked around, seeing Tony and slightly jumping in surprise, then hung up the call.

“Our faculty was invited to a charity basketball game. They told every student during first period that the school would be locking up early, and to be out of the building as soon as possible.”

"Every student??" Tony and Steve looked at each other. "Tarleton." They said in unison.

"...What?"

Tony folded his arms. "We have Calc 2 with Tarleton first period. He didn't mention  _shit_ about a basketball game."

"Well, he was supposed to."

“What about students downstairs? Did they get locked in too?”

“Probably, I’m not sure. I think they left one door unlocked from the inside, but the rest of the school is air tight.”

“Where’s this basketball game?” Tony asked, stuffing his phone into his back pocket.

“…Uptown.”

They both groaned.

“…So, are we just…stuck here for the night?” Steve raised.

“Yeah. Unfortunately. They open the gates at four AM, so we have to wait until then.”

“When I get out of this building, I am fighting _somebody_.” Tony sighed, shaking his head. “Unbelievable. You’re student secretary, how did you forget?”

“We got caught up organizing the senior trip this winter.”

“Wait, ‘we’?”

A swiveling office chair rolled out of the classroom, a boy with spiky blond hair and wild blue eyes ramming into the lockers, falling into a fit of giggles.

“And that’s how you make an entrance.”

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus Christ, I have to spend a night in the school with Wade freaking Wilson.”

“And Pete! Peter’s here too!”

Peter stepped outside, waving shyly. “Hi, guys. Wade, get back in here before you dent the lockers.”

“I’m president, who cares?”

“The faculty cares. A lot. They almost opted to impeach you. Get back in here.”

Wade scooted back into the classroom, Pepper, Tony, and Steve all sharing glances.

“He’s gotten better.” Pepper exhaled, shutting her eyes. “It used to be worse.”

“Okay, where can we get stuff to sleep on?” Steve asked, “Like, pillows and blankets? Or anything close to those?”

“Luckily, the home economics classroom is on this floor, 234. They were working on pillow cases, so there should be a ton of pillows in there, and I think a few quilts. If not, at least we’ll have pillows.”

Steve and Tony walked towards a right turn to get the classroom, while Pepper walked back into the computer lab, yelling about Wade sitting on the printer.

“I should probably text Bucky.” Steve thought aloud. “The last time I forgot to tell his mom I was sleeping over Thor’s house, she called the police. Don’t want to go through that again.”

“Wait, you’ve been to Thor’s house? I have so many questions.”

XXXX

“I got a text, could you answer it?”

Natasha was perched in the passenger seat of Bucky’s Honda Accord heading to downtown Midtown. He owed her dinner after getting his ass kicked in Street Fighter IV five times in a row, and she didn’t let him forget it until they were on their way.

She picked up his phone in the cup holder, sliding the screen to unlock it. Her eyes scanned the text, her brows furrowing the more she read. “Steve and Tony got stuck in the school.”

Bucky snorted a laugh, “Really? What the fuck, how?”

“Apparently…the faculty locked up the school early to go to a charity event, and he’s there with Tony, Pepper Potts, Wade Wilson, and Peter Parker on the second floor. He said he should be back early in the morning.”

“We got out okay, though…”

“I don’t know, ask him when he gets out. _If_ he gets out.”

“Ooo, ominous.”

“At least he’s there with Stark.”

“If they don’t leave that school as boyfriends, the universe is officially working against me.”

“You? Why not them?”

“Because this means more to me than both of them combined. I’ve seen Steve’s sketchbook. I need them to finally date so I can hope to God to never see another interpretation of what Steve thinks Tony looks like naked.”

“Oh my God, I never took Steve as the giddy-schoolgirl type. Does he write ‘Mr. Steve Stark’ in the corners?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

XXXX

Once they had gotten settled into the computer lab, silence fell over the five trapped teens, except for the occasional conversation between Pepper, Wade, and Peter. Tony sat in a corner stacked with pillows and fire blankets from the science classrooms, while Steve sat at a computer close by. Steve tried to tell him they didn’t need to take all of the fire blankets from every science classroom, but Tony insisted if he were to stay here overnight, he damn well better be comfortable.

“So.” Tony said from his corner, Pepper sitting next to him with a blanket draped over her shoulders. “What’s the senior trip this year?”

Wade scooted away from the computer closest to the door, “We had to make it bigger and better than last year’s. Yeah, a trip to Mall of America is okay, if you’re lame. I wanna take everyone to Vegas, but Pepper says it’s ‘not in the budget’.”

“Exactly. Because it isn’t.” Pepper bit out. “Bring it up again and I’ll knock your teeth out.”

“We’re torn between four ideas.” Peter interjected. “Since this is one of the last big things the president has to organize besides prom, the faculty wants our class budget to the bare minimum for prom after planning this trip. Principal Fury thinks the new senior class president should have a fresh start each year, which is stupid, so that way we think of more ways to get money.”

“Will Fury ever stop with the life lessons?” Tony groaned.

“With our current funding,” Peter continued, “we could go to DC, Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, a ski resort in Vermont, or a water park in Florida.”

“But _I_ wanted a trip to Vegas or the Caribbean. Doesn’t that sound like a cooler senior trip?”

“Wade, we’re not even old enough to drink. Or gamble.”

“There’s other things to do in Vegas besides gamble and drink…”

“Did I not just threaten your teeth, Wilson?”

“How much did Stacy leave for you guys anyway?” Steve spoke up.

“She’s been president since junior year,” Peter said. “And she was very much into charity events, and her events were also extremely popular and well done. With that, use your imagination.”

There was a pause. “How many figures?” Tony asked slowly.

“Five, close to six.” Pepper said, laying down on one of Tony’s pillows next to his leg.

“Six!?”

“Gwen came up with the fall carnival. She had clubs put on fundraisers once a semester and took 60% of the funds. She showed these clubs that the money they were losing wasn’t in vein, and threw great events. She knew damn well how to make money for this school, and how to make it all worth it in the end. How else do you think we got that school-wide ice cream party sophomore year? Fall carnival, which Peggy Carter put into motion. Two years later? It’s annual now.” She took another blanket from Tony. “Plus, she’s got a rich mommy who was very generous with donations.”

“I took Stacy for granted.” Tony sniffled, “She was a hero.”

“We still don’t know which one to pick.” Peter spun in his chair. “Three of them would take place after graduation, so skiing is the only one we’d have to rush to schedule.”

Wade appeared next to Steve, holding onto the arm of Steve’s chair so he didn’t slide away. “Which one would you go to, Rogers? If anyone knows the student body, it’s you.”

“I don’t really know the student body.” Steve smiled awkwardly, “I just throw a football around. I mean, I wouldn’t mind the ski trip. I’ve never been skiing before.”

Wade clapped his hands, “Boom! We got an answer!” He boomed triumphantly, spinning around and pushing himself away from Steve and back towards his computer. “Email the resort!”

“That’s just one person.”

“One person I trust.”

“Hey, thanks Wade.”

Peter pushed his chair out. “Tony? What do you think?”

“I think you should be asking Pepper, not me, because I’m pretty fond of Wilson’s idea.”

“See!”

Pepper sighed, rolling over to face Peter’s general direction. “Skiing. It’s the cheapest option, it takes less time to get there, and we can actually spend three days at the resort. Once we get started on prom, we’ll have enough money to actually have a cool prom.”

Tony nodded. “Take her word for it.”

Peter and Wade glanced at each other. “Alright. Skiing it is.”

Steve's phone vibrated on the desk. Tony noticed how quick he was quick to grab it and look at the text message, which wasn't really like him. He was mostly the type to just let it vibrate, and Tony would usually tease him by saying it was to protect his delicate football fingers. But this was too quick. He chewed on his lip as he tapped out a quick response, and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He looked out of it.

It couldn't have been a message from Bucky; texts from Bucky usually ended with Steve grinning and looking up at the ceiling, and thinking for honest to God around ten minutes for a decent response. It couldn't have been from Thor, Steve would usually shake his head and Google half the words from the text.

Tony legitimately hated how much he noticed things about this guy. He decided to just drop it; whatever the message was about, it couldn't have been that serious.

“Skiing!" Wade leaned back in his chair. "It was the right idea all along.”

“Wade, I swear to God…”

XXXX

Steve and Tony helped them plan out and execute this trip for a few hours, until the sun was done and the moon shone into the lab. Tony had to admit; he didn’t hate this. It was definitely a change in scenery. Yeah, he was trapped in this musty school for a few more hours, but he was with good company.

Everyone was basically knocked out at around eleven, except for Tony, who was staring at the Microsoft logo bouncing across Peter’s hibernating monitor, and it was currently his only form of entertainment, since his phone had died hours ago. Wade and Peter were sprawled out on the floor, the aisle between computer monitors closest to the door. Pepper was curled up near him, and Steve was in a corner the same side as his corner.

He couldn’t sleep. Who could sleep in this room? Tony was very good at taking naps in almost every classroom in this school, but the computer labs? Impossible. Mostly because every student, no matter their age, thought doing the sticky keys sound was absolutely hysterical. Whenever he shut his eyes, he heard that panicky beeping from the back of his mind, which woke him right back up. And pissed him off a little.

“Tony?”

Tony immediately closed his eyes and let out a breath. Fuck. He forgot.

“I know you’re awake.”

Tony shifted around so he was facing Steve’s corner, who was sitting criss-cross next to him.

“I still deserve an explanation.” He whispered. Tony looked up at him, the moon lighting up half of his face, and Jesus, he was not happy. At all.

Tony was used to that expression, but tonight, it was concerning. It was real. And it hit Tony how real his isolation tactic was, and how real the effects were.

It’s a good thing Pepper wasn’t awake, or she would immediately smirk and tell him in the morning that no one likes it when he ‘doubts his meaning to his friends’, or something.

“I’m sorry.” Tony said, not really caring if he woke the others up. He brought his voice back to a whisper. “I was dealing with…personal troubles. I don’t have good ways of coping with things.”

Steve sighed, letting his shoulders relax and his face softened and he looked at Tony, and fuck, he has really pretty eyes. Not the time to be thinking about that, though.

“We need to work on finding new coping mechanisms for you, then.” Steve whispered with a small smile. “Talk to me if you feel like cutting off the world. People on the outside need you around.”

Tony nodded, which he hoped Steve could see. “Thanks. I really am sorry, Rapunzel.”

“Just learn to talk to people, Flynn.”

He shifted back around to face the wall, listening to Steve scoot back over to his corner.

He was half asleep when he could have sworn he felt a hand leave his head. He was already unconscious before it could fully register.

XXXX

They all jumped at the sound of metal scraping against the ground from behind the door. Well, all but Wade.

“That was the gates.” Tony choked out, still basically asleep.

“Thank God…” Pepper grunted, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Wade garbled out a snore, Peter shaking him gently. He jumped up, frantically looking around the room.

“We’re leaving” Peter said, helping Wade stand up. He stretched his arms upwards, wiping drool off the side of his mouth.

“Welp, this was a fun slumber party.” Wade said hoarsely.

“I wouldn’t really call this a slumber party.” Steve stood next to Tony as he helped Pepper up, who handed him her heels. Tony looked at the heels, then back to Pepper, who furrowed her brows.

“What? You expect me to walk out of here in heels? It’s four AM!”

“Yeah, it’s four AM, so stop yelling at me.”

The five shuffled out of the computer lab, walking to the staircase a few doors down, closest to the greenhouse. Thankfully, it was open.

“If Vice Principal Hill is here, she’s gonna get a piece of my mind.” Pepper growled. “She’ll have to tell me the gate codes now, or this’ll be in the paper by eight AM.”

“Alright, take it easy, Pep, you get a little reputation ruin-y when you’re cranky.”

They walked down the stairs and towards the main entrance of the school, which was right next to the main office. The attendance secretary, who was seated at the desk next to the main office, did a double take when she saw them.

“How long have you all been here?!” She asked, a little panic in her voice. Tony leaned against the desk.

“We got locked in here overnight because some of your teachers didn’t tell us about the gates closing early. Name’s Tony Stark, and I won’t be coming in today. You’ll let my friends do the same, or the most important heads of student government,” He pointed behind him to Wade, Peter, and Pepper. “Will ruin this school’s reputation with a single email.” He tapped the desk with his hand, pushing himself off and walking to the door without a goodbye.

Pepper, Wade, Peter, and Steve all looked at each other, then back to the attendance secretary.

Wade shrugged, "He's not wrong, y'know."

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Gladys.” Pepper said, walking towards the door was well, with the other three boys in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooooo boy this was insanely cliched but i am really glad i finally got to incorporate wade wilson  
> fun fact d-pooly is my favorite comic book character. and he's interesting to write too. yay for writing challenges  
> hey thanks for reading!!
> 
> LINKZ  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	14. A Study in Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce has his first date ever, and Tony decides to help him prepare, with Natasha supervising, of course. Clint goes on an adventure with Bobbi and Patsy, even though all he wanted to do was get hot dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've made it this far, you've noticed a ton of continuity errors, and at this point i think they're all fixed. im real sorry about that. like i've mentioned before, started writing this my junior year in high school, so there was some stuff i changed over this past, like, month of getting back in the groove of this. thanks for your patience n enjoy!!!

It was a supremely cold Tuesday and Clint had been craving hot dogs and fries all day. He had no idea why.

He sat down in first period History in the middle of the classroom next to Peter Parker, like every day. He was on time, though, which never really happened, so today was already going swimmingly. Mrs. Munroe came in a second after the bell, and her pink cardigan reminded him of hot dogs, and suddenly, he snapped out of his sleepy daze and decided that hot dogs were happening after school.

It was random, and Clint was mildly concerned about how random it was, but it gave him an excuse to hang out with his friends a little longer today.

He walked into the library and sat down at the third table behind the nonfiction section, setting his bag in his usual seat facing the book shelf. Tony was leaned back in his chair on one end with his earbuds in, tapping his pencil on his binder and murmuring the lyrics to the song he was listening to. Steve and Thor sat across from Clint, Steve taking notes from his textbook and Thor ripping open a package of PopTarts. Natasha looked up at Clint from her book, giving him a warm smile.

“You look a little out of it today.” She observed in a soft voice, concerned. “You alright?”

“I’ve been craving cookout classics like hot dogs and burgers like I’m a third trimester pregnant woman. That’s literally all that’s been on my mind.”

“What did I just walk in on?” Bruce appeared, sitting down next to Clint. “Are you planning a cookout?”

“Honestly, it sounds like it.”

“Do you guys wanna get food with me after this? Help a lost soul out.”

Bruce sighed, “See, I want to, but I’ve got a date later tonight, and I need to get mentally prepared, because if you haven’t guessed, I have never been on a date before.”

Tony yanked his earbuds out of his ear, letting the front legs of his chair fall back onto the ground. “What was that?”

“Are you referring to Clint’s food craving or Bruce’s date?”

“The one that matters.”

“Ouch, Stark, Bruce is _right here_.”

“I’m talking about you, jackass.” Tony shut his binder. “Bruce! You’ve got a date! With who?”

“Who else could it be?” Steve leaned against the table. “It’s Darcy, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“I mean, duh.” Natasha smirked. “You guys have been inseparable since Homecoming. I’m waiting for the wedding bells.”

“Aye, Jane has all of the information about Lady Lewis and Banner’s relationship. It’s quite adorable.”

“Wait, what? Thor, what are you talking about!?”

“You said you need to get mentally prepared?” Tony continued. “Let me help you.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I’ll help you, too, Bruce. Stark will only pump poison into your head about dating. Besides, his track record isn’t incredible.”

Clint shrugged, “Yeah, she’s got a point. A slumber party with Steve in the school isn’t really the basis of a good date.”

Steve buried his face in his hands.

“It wasn’t a date, there were three other people there. Including my ex-girlfriend.” Tony pointed out.

“Wow, he even brought his ex. Yeah, Bruce, it’s better that Natasha’s there.”

“Jesus, Clint…”

Bruce sighed, “If I let you guys help me, will you drop this?”

“Definitely.”

“Fine, you can train me.” He turned to Thor. “I need to know what Jane’s said about me and Darcy.”

“It is not my business to tell. My apologies.”

“It’s also not your business to know.”

“Have I struck a nerve, Banner?”

“Don’t push me, Odinson.”

“So, no one wants to get hot dogs with me?” Clint said.

“Thor and I are busy later.” Steve said, folding his arms. “Sorry, Clint. Maybe another time.”

“Nah, that’s okay, just let me waste away in what almost was…”

“Alright, Mr. Existential, let’s talk about aldehydes and ketones!”

Clint was a little bummed that he’d have to go alone. They had only been a study group for a little over three months, but he genuinely enjoyed their company, especially outside of the library.

At 4:30, he slinked out the library towards the main entrance where his car was parked, not really paying attention to his surroundings and juggling his keys in his hands.

“Clint!”

He snapped to attention, looking to his left and seeing Bobbi prancing towards him, along with Patsy Walker, who looked a little defeated. She was probably being dragged by Bobbi to do something, which, Clint had a feeling, would soon include him.

“Hey, Bobbi, Patsy. Whatsup?”

“We’re meeting some friends from Uptown to see that new horror movie that came out yesterday, Bloody Royals.” Bobbi waved her hands and waggled her fingers, Patsy doing the same, but supplying ‘ooo’s. “Do you wanna come with?”

“You mean that weird movie about a haunted royal family or something? That looks like garbage.”

“Duh, that’s why we’re seeing it.”

Clint smiled. “I’m surprised you’re not asking Nat.”

“She’s busy.” Patsy nodded behind him, Clint looking over his shoulder. Natasha and Bucky were walking out the front door, hands grazing against each other before their fingers interlocked, just as the door closed behind them.

“We were gonna ask the both of you, so don’t think you’re our last resort.” Bobbi said quickly.

Clint turned back around, biting the inside of his lip. No, he wasn’t jealous. Maybe. She’s happy, he’s happy, whatever.

“How’d you get it out of her?” He asked.

“We knew the second the both of them weren’t in the gym for free period last week. Plus, we all saw it coming.” Bobbi shrugged. “Anyway, movie, us, wanna?”

He crossed his arms. “If I come, can we get food?”

“Thank God you said that,” Patsy threw her head back dramatically. “I’ve been dying for French fries all day!”

“Hey, me too. Kind of.” Clint said. “Alright, I’ll come.”

The three started walking back towards the library, closest to the west exit.

“So are your Uptown friends coming to Midtown?”

“God, no.” Bobbi snorted, “Our theatre sucks. We’re going to Uptown.”

Clint cleared his throat. “How long does it take to get to Uptown?”

“On a good day, an hour.”

Clint looked at Bobbi. “Is it a good day today?”

“Uptown has that really swanky movie theatre, which is insanely popular in the area.” Patsy chimed in. “So, add that to a hyped up movie that’s only showing for a week. Today is probably a bad day, which is why we’re leaving now.”

He groaned. “You’re paying for food, Bob.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey!”

XXXX

“Alright, debriefing time. Tell us about this date.”

Bruce was contently slurping a milkshake across from Natasha and Tony. They were perched in a booth at a diner about two blocks from the school, the one they went to after Homecoming, minus Natasha and Tony, coincidentally.

“Well, she asked me out after we got back from D-NY. We’re seeing that new horror movie, the one about the haunted royal family.”

“Bloody Royals? That movie looks like a train wreck.” Natasha scoffed.

“No, no, this is perfect. She’ll get scared and go to you for protection.”

“She’ll get scared? She suggested the movie.”

“She’ll be leaping into your arms after the first ten minutes!”

Natasha rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her strawberry shake. “Alright, we’re gonna turn off the Tony’s Dating Tropes Extravaganza show and talk about _real life_ dating.”

Tony looked at Natasha. “The last date I went on—”

“Which was, what, two years ago? The dating game is fluid and ever-changing, grandpa, keep up.”

“I’m .2 seconds away from pouring his milkshake down your back, Spider.”

“Woah, keep my milkshake out of this. Let her talk.”

Tony sank down in the booth with a pout, reaching out for a waitress’ arm. “Can I get a vanilla milkshake with as much whipped cream as possible? My friends are mean to me.”

She smiled and told him she’d get right on that, wiggling out of Tony’s grip and walking away.

“…Anyway.” Natasha said. “Alright, so, you’re seeing a movie. Easy, there’s no talking involved in that. Watch the movie, maybe put your arm around the back of her seat, if she’s into that. Be yourself. That’s why she asked you out, because she likes you.”

“What if she’s not into that?” Bruce hunched over his glass. “What if I read the situation wrong? Oh, God, she’ll think I’m some kind of male chauvinist!”

“Calm down, Bruce. You’ve hung out with her before, alone, right?”

“Well, yeah. We just didn’t call it a date. But this is an official date, and that adds so much pressure. There’s that elephant in the room, are we gonna go on another date? How many dates is too soon to ask her to be my girlfriend? Are we gonna get _married_? My dad will want to plan my bachelor party, I can’t have that!”

Natasha blinked, looking at Tony. “This is worse than we thought.”

“Yeah. I expected this.” Tony sat back up. “Alright. Banner. Focus. Calm.” Bruce nodded, sucking his milkshake again, eyes wide and panicked. “You like this girl, right? At least in some regard?”

Bruce smacked his lips, wiping chocolate from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand. He nodded, “I do. A lot, actually.” He sighed, shutting his eyes. “That’s why I don’t want to mess this up.”

Tony’s milkshake was set on the table, picking up some of the mound of whipped cream on his finger and licking it off. “According to Thor, she likes you too. Probably even more than you like her. You can’t mess it up, because you’ve already won.”

“Not saying that Darcy is some kind of prize,” Natasha added quickly, “But Tony’s right. She already likes you. You don’t have to try any harder to impress her.”

“But…I want to try harder. I want there to be a second date. I want a lot more dates with Darcy.”

Natasha and Tony looked at each other, turning back to Bruce and smiling at him. Natasha twirled her straw between her fingers and drank, eyes still on Bruce. Bruce’s brows knitted together. “What?”

“You’re ready.” Tony nodded, drinking more of his milkshake.

“I’m still terrified, though, isn’t that a bad thing?”

Natasha shook her head. “No, that’s a good thing. It’s okay to be scared. Just don’t let your fear determine how this date will end.”

Bruce smiled, looking down at his hands. “See, you guys suck, but sometimes, you do great things.”

“I’m not even offended by that.”

“I am. You’re paying for your own shake, Banner.”

XXXX

Clint had never been to Uptown before. He had heard stories about it from his dad, when he was sober.

His dad worked in Uptown at a butchers shop for as long as Clint could remember. He worked long hours, and would always come home exhausted, reeking of meat and sour whiskey. Clint remembered his mother hissing at his dad about that whiskey when they thought he and his brother Barney were asleep, but he heard them. His dad still stayed up an extra hour to tell Clint and Barney about the big wigs in navy suits and slicked back hair that came into the shop, how every building was at least ten of their house stacked on top of each other. He called it the ‘city of the future’, which made Clint more interested every day. His dad always made grandiose promises that one day he would take the boys out there and just explore, clean out the toy shop a block away from the butchers, and soak up all that the goddamn city had to offer. Clint’s mother always told them that their father worked too long of hours for them to go with him, but his dad snorted at that statement. He would say, screw the hours, and screw the shop, I’ll spend the day with my boys if I want to.

When Clint was eleven, his father started to come around the house later and later in the day. He asked Barney if they’d ever get the chance to go to Uptown. Barney, who was almost sixteen, waved it off. He said dad was full of shit, he was a liar, don’t listen to him, Clint.

But he wanted to listen. He liked to listen.

Clint wanted to ask him more about Uptown, about the toy shop, about the future that the city represented, but when he was twelve, his dad came home less and less. He would be gone for days at a time, and when he was home, he was in the living room in the wee hours of the night, yelling at the television and breaking bottles of Old Crow on the hardwood floor. Clint used to wince at the sound of shattering glass, used to fear the sharp points and jagged edges. But he got used to it. He would emerge from the bedroom when the front door slammed around six AM, which was around when he had to be up for school anyway, and helped his mother clean it up. She always tried to refuse his help, but it was a losing battle. She got used to it.

His dad finally stopped coming around the house all together by the time Clint was thirteen, and Barney left town the second he turned eighteen. He never heard about Uptown anymore. His mother refuses to go there. If this was the future that the city had to offer for his family, then that was the shittiest city on the map.

“Jesus, Bobbi, took us long enough to get here.”

“Well, it’s not my fault everyone had the same idea as us to see the movie today!”

But now he’s here.

Clint looked out the window in the passenger seat of Bobbi’s car. He made it to Uptown. It was clean and glowing, navy suits all over the sidewalks. The buildings were tall, just like his dad told him. He thought about his dad, about Barney. Wherever they were. _I made it_ , he thought. _I’m here._

They pulled up to a red light, on the corner of Broadway and 11th. He tensed; the shop his dad worked at was on 11th. He shouldn’t be tense; it’s not like he was going to see his dad. Like he would still be at that stupid shop after all these years. Clint tried to relax his shoulders, turning to look at Bobbi. “What time does the movie start?”

Bobbi, who was tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of the pop song spilling from the radio, glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Should be starting in an hour and a half, maybe two hours. We actually made good time.”

“Alright, what places here sell hot dogs?”

“You’ve never been here?” Patsy asked from the backseat, sitting on the edge and poking her head between Clint and Bobbi.

“Never had a reason to.” He said. “Why, is this place so fancy there’s not a single weenie?”

Bobbi shrugged, “I mean, it is an upscale city. It’s expensive as all hell to live here. The only places that sell hot dogs are the stands, and they close after the lunch rush.”

Clint groaned, sinking in his seat. “I’m never going to get a hot dog…”

“Don’t worry,” Patsy said, resting her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find a place. Bob, what about that restaurant on Oliver’s block?”

“…Oh! You mean that tavern place?”

“Yeah, what’s it called…Gordon’s something…”

“Gordon’s Grille and Tavern!”

Bobbi reached her left hand over her body to high five Patsy. She glanced at Clint again. “There’s a place with hot dogs on the same block as our friend’s apartment complex.”

“Okay, hot dogs first, then movie. We good on that?”

“We good!”

Clint finally got his hot dog and French fries after what felt like an eternity, and he felt whole again. The tavern Bobbi and Patsy were talking about was in seemingly the most middle class neighborhood in what he had seen of the city. The sidewalks looked paved in marble and the street lights made of pure gold everywhere else, but this part of town felt like…well, Midtown. It was homey. It felt gritty and real, while everything else felt fake, deceptive. Clint munched on his hot dog, stealing glances outside the window. He couldn’t help it, he was tense and he just wanted to go to the theatre, which was across town and away from here. _You’re not going to see him._ Clint reminded himself. _He’s not here. He can’t be here. Be logical, damnit._

Bobbi and Patsy told him about their friends Dinah and Oliver, who they met during an away softball game this past spring. Dinah was playing for Uptown High School, and had ran into them the night before while the team was at an ice cream shop, realizing that this was the team she was playing against tomorrow. Dinah had originally intended to just leave them be, but she heard Patsy and Bobbi talking about cartoons, and had to join in the conversation. They met Dinah’s boyfriend Oliver after the game, and they were fast friends.

They left Gordon’s with a half hour to spare, where Dinah and Oliver were perched on a bench outside of the theatre. Clint was gawking; this was like, the Broadway theatre on steroids, but if the steroids were diamonds and classical music. He pulled himself together to introduce himself to the two.

“Jesus Christ, _this_ is Uptown’s movie theatre?”

Dinah waved her hand. “It’s not that big of a deal. Now, are we doing 3D, 4D, or regular?”

“ _4D?_ That’s a thing now!?”

Bobbi rested a hand on Clint’s shoulder. “Excuse him, this is his first time here.”

“Since it’s your first time, take my advice,” Oliver said, “Never go to a 4D. It’s too expensive, and it’s the biggest disappointment. Dinah here just has money to throw around.”

Dinah smacked Oliver’s shoulder, earning snickers from Bobbi and Patsy. He followed behind their group into the massive theatre, pausing to throw a look over his shoulder.

“You alright?”

He turned back to face forward, Patsy standing with the door propped open. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Well, get in here so we can see a terrible movie.” Clint walked through the door, him and Patsy catching back up to their friends.

“It’s not my business,” She said while they waited in line for popcorn. “But is something bothering you? You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to. We kind of just met. I probably shouldn’t have asked, should I?”

Clint sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. He had never told anyone about his dad. He hadn’t met anyone he could tell about him. He also just had an actual conversation with Patsy about three hours ago. He just shrugged his shoulders, not really wanting to shove his life story on a stranger. Maybe she wouldn’t be a stranger in the future. Who knows?

“Just nervous about being in a new place.”

“Don’t worry; once you look past all the prosperous residents and the privilege, Uptown’s not so different from Midtown at all.”

“That’s a lot to look past, Patsy.”

“That’s true. Whatever. Let’s just get popcorn.”

“Woah, wait, nevermind, no popcorn. Shit’s ten bucks! For a _medium!_ ”

XXXX

“You just gotta do it, man.”

“I’ve never done this before!”

"Wait, didn't you date Peggy? You didn't dump her?"

"She broke up with me."

"What?! You never told me!"

“Your time would come eventually. What time is she gonna be here?”

“Any second. Why can’t I do this?”

“It was going to happen no matter what, Rogers.”

“Yeah, did you think you were just gonna date through college and get married? You really are a bonehead.”

There was a knock at the door.

Steve was pacing around his living room with Sam, Thor, and Bucky on the couch. He had a date with Sharon tonight; they had officially been dating for a month. They were going to dinner to celebrate.

Unfortunately, he was dumping her.

He called his friends together for advice and moral support. Mostly the moral support. After the night in the school with Tony and the heads of student government, he knew he had to try with Tony. He’d regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t. Even if he didn’t feel the same way, if he flat out rejected him, that was fine. He had to try.

“I wanna date Tony.” Steve told his friends in the kitchen after school.

Bucky shrugged. “Alright. Break up with Sharon. It’s that easy.”

“Aye, but it’s easier said than done.” Thor chided.

“We’re going out to dinner tonight, me and Sharon, and I need break up advice.”

“Do it before dinner. Before you even leave the driveway,” Sam suggested, “Better that then during dinner.”

“No, man, that’s a waste of gas if he does it before.” Bucky said. “You gotta do it after dinner. You’ve eaten, you’ve had a nice conversation. Boom. At least it’s a nice way to end things, instead of just opening the door and saying, ‘hey, sorry Sharon, you’re cool and all, but I wanna makeout with Tony Stark, hope you understand’ and slam the door in her face.”

Sam nodded to Bucky, “That’s true, I’d be pissed if I drove all the way out here just to get dumped.”

“Okay, do I do it after we _eat_ or after the _check_? She’s driving me, is this gonna be an awkward ride home?” Steve let his head hit the table. “This sucks.”

“Remember that she is a person with feelings,” Thor said, “And she deserves to know the truth as soon as possible. I advise you to cut your ties after the check has been paid, and once you’re in the car. You will not make a scene, and it’s in a private manner, and the least you can provide for her is that your break up is between the two of you, rather than a whole restaurant.”

Steve lifted his head back up, “Alright, Thor’s plan works.”

“Damn, Thor. That was eloquent as hell.”

“How many people have you dumped, Odinson?”

The hours ticked away, the Call of Duty matches ended one after the other, and now, Steve was here, in a button down and freshly pressed slacks, with his eyes on the floor and trying not to bit through his lip.

“So, you just gonna keep her waiting outside?” Sam asked. Steve snapped out of his thoughts, jogging to the door. He took a deep breath, flinging it open.

“Sharon.” He said. “Hey. You look great.”

“Thanks. You’re looking pretty sharp yourself.” She leaned up and briefly kissed him, her brows knitting together when she heard a faint 'ooo'. She poked her head into the house, seeing the three on the couch. "Hi, boys." She waved.

They pretended to not have said anything, eyes glued the television.

Sharon looked back at Steve. “Are you ready?”

Steve let his shoulders relax. “As I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha lol black canary and green arrow haha lol DC characters living in bougie Uptown haha lol  
> sorry if you're like, ride or die for dinah or oliver, i probably fucked up their personalities big time. v sry  
> also. i got good/bad news. i finally got a summer job, so weekly updates might dwindle to every other week. BUT i'll try my hardest to stay on top of it!!! thank u for ur continued patronage  
> thank you for reading!!!!
> 
> LINKS  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	15. A Study in Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbi tells Clint she likes him, and Clint isn't very happy about the response he has to give her. Natasha has another slumber party at Jan's place, and she leaves thinking a little bit harder about things that she never had to question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this was supposed to go up yesterday but i worked really long hours and forgot to post it before. my b!)

Natasha walked into fourth period Latin on Thursday with a spring in her step, mainly for two reasons.

The first snowfall was here, which was coincidentally the first reason, and the campus was dusted in a fine powdery sheet. It was steadily falling when Bucky drove them into the parking lot that morning. She liked the snow. Everything was quiet and peaceful, and she had the opportunity to listen to herself think while she walked through the parking lot to the school with her fingers grazing his, which never happened, because some new asshole would always skid into a parking lot and narrowly avoid hitting them, which earned some cursing and yelling from Bucky. They wouldn’t even attempt to park straight, and they always had the same trap song blaring like the previous thirty cars did. But now, the windows were rolled up, the driving was _a little_ safer. Winter was safe and quiet and she liked that. Plus, she got to see snowflakes in Bucky’s hair, which was endearing, but it looked like dandruff, so she faked concern about his scalp hygiene the whole walk into the school.

And now that there’s snow on the ground, that officially marks the end of high school football season. Their high school didn’t make it to the playoffs, so, no more cheer practice. That was the second reason.

No more rehearsing Wanda Maximoff’s exhausting routines, no more running laps or pretending to work out on the leg press, but really just sitting there to catch her breath and let her shaking legs rest. No more Bobbi trying to drag her to the pancake joint—no, wait, never mind, that still happens.

She could finally relax, go home after school. She was free.

“Can you help me and Patsy practice our cheer routines?”

But, with football season gone, basketball season was right around the corner. And Jan Van Dyne and Patsy Walker just happened to be basketball cheerleaders. And they also happened to be her friends.

So, she was _technically_ free; free from her own cheer responsibilities. She should’ve known Jan would ask her to help with hers.

Natasha had just slid into her seat, looking at Jan and groaning.

“Don’t give me that, Nat, it would mean a lot!” She gasped, “How about you sleep over? I could invite Anna Marie and Bobbi too and they can help!”

“I swear, I’m going to write a book about all the instances you ask me to do things I don’t want to.” She sighed, resting her head on her hand. She knew from the past that she couldn’t fight Jan on this. “Will there be food at this sleepover?”

“Duh. _I_ wouldn’t even be there if there weren’t any food.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll ask the others during free period.” She shut her eyes as Jan thanked her enthusiastically. “Who’s the captain again? They can’t be as brutal as Wanda. You probably won’t need our help after this first game.”

“Jen Walters.”

Natasha eyes snapped open. “Oh, you’re dead.”

“What do you mean!?”

She had flashbacks to her short lived volleyball career freshmen and sophomore year; she played with Jen Walters. They were both spikers. Jen Walters was insanely competitive, and when she was vice captain their second year, there was an entirely new atmosphere on the court. She would work them to death. She was harder than Wanda.

“If there’s anyone on this Earth that Wanda Maximoff would take orders from with no question and no attitude, it’s 100% Jennifer Walters.”

“Is that a scary thing?”

“Definitely. Watch.” Natasha tapped the shoulder of the boy sitting in front of her, his name was Matthew Liebowicz or something, she had never talked to him. He turned around, confusion on his face.

“When I say ‘Jennifer Walters’, what is the first word that comes to mind?”

“Strong.” He choked out with no hesitation, spinning back around.

Natasha turned back to Jan, shrugging. “Good luck.”

Jan sank into her seat. “Great. Awesome. Perfect.”

“I mean, you’ll survive. You’ll just have to practice harder than we did for football, and you saw how hard we practiced.”

Jan looked at her with wide eyes. “But Anna Marie threw up twice!”

“And she survived. Just gotta remember to survive.”

“I didn’t think cheerleading was going to be the freaking Hunger Games.”

XXXX

Clint was confused. That wasn’t strange, he was confused all the time. Today was just a different kind of confusing.

He was walking out of Health with Bruce, talking about how his date with Darcy went. Bruce was nearing the end of his story, which was the end of the date, which also happened to be what Clint had been waiting for.

“So, I pull up into her driveway, and we’re laughing about something I said at dinner—”

“Holy shit, Bruce, you said something _funny_?”

“Yeah, I know, shocker. I kick off the engine, and—”

There was a tap on his shoulder.

Clint spun around on his heels, Bruce turning less dramatically.

“Hi.” Bobbi said, “I need to talk to you.”

Clint looked at Bruce, sighing. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re good. I’ll tell you the rest after school. Bye, Bobbi.” Bruce said, continuing down the hall.

Clint stuffed his hands into his pockets. “What’s up?”

Bobbi shifted her weight on her heels. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“If it’s about the Health test, I’m sworn to secrecy, aka, Grey will dock points if she finds out we talked about the infamous extended responses.”

“That wasn’t it, but now I’m really bummed about that. I didn’t study, I wanted to compare answers.”

“I _can_ tell you about the English reading test, if you really want me to.”

“Okay, stop, we’re getting off topic now. I’m holding you to that, though.” She took a deep breath, the bell sounding as she rocked on her feet. Clint noticed her hands shaking.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“No, no, I’m fine. I’m okay. I…I don’t know how else to say this.” She clapped her hands together. “So…I like you. That’s how it goes. Yeah. I like you.”

Clint’s stomach dropped. Oh, no. He’s gonna hate this.

“Okay, that part’s out of the way. I also wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out. With me. Tonight.”

She was biting on her bottom lip, clearly trying to hide a shy smile, and fuck, he really didn’t want to do this to someone as cool as Bobbi.

He shifted his weight, running a hand along his chin. He looked up at her, the hope from her blue eyes draining and her teeth releasing her lip.

“Bob…” Clint started, shifting his weight again. This was going to suck. “I…I don’t…share the same feelings. I’m sorry.”

Bobbi took a step back. Clint continued. “I’m really sorry. You’re an awesome person, and you’re a great friend. But…” He shrugged, letting his hand drop pathetically against his leg. “I’ve got my own feelings to sort out.”

“There’s someone else.” She said immediately. She shook her head, “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.” And she bolted past him, ignoring his calls for her to wait and rounded the corner towards the main hallway, most likely heading to the gym.

Looks like he was spending his free period somewhere else.

He groaned, throwing his head back. There was snow, so the archery field was officially a no-go. He ran a hand through his hair and started walking down the hall, ready to take the area under the main staircase as his own.

He saw he had three texts from Natasha once he was leaning against the wall under the stairs. They all came one right after the other about five minutes ago.

_Don’t know where else you’d be, you can’t go to the archery field. You actually studying somewhere?_

_Have any idea why Bobbi just ran into the gym in what looks like hysteria?_

_Alright, you rejected a girl, I’m sorry, but come hang out with us. Don’t make me find you._

Clint locked his phone, lightly hitting his head against the wall. He didn’t like Bobbi like that. Bobbi was funny and cool, and they both took pride in knowing the others favorite ice cream flavor, since getting ice cream was a thing they did every week. He liked good-friend-Bobbi. Girlfriend-Bobbi had never come to mind.

That was for Natasha. Which he knew would never happen. He was just having trouble getting over it.

He didn’t like to admit it, but he had liked Natasha ever since she agreed to help tutor him at that first session. He mostly just thought she was hot and honest, and didn’t develop into anything more until the house party at the Maximoff residence, where they were up talking behind the rose bushes for what felt like forever. He hadn’t talked to anyone like that since his brother left, and by the way Natasha talked to him, it seemed like she didn’t have anyone like that either.

There were moments when he thought they could work out. He was planning on asking her to Homecoming; until Barnes up and ruined it. There was still faith, though. From what he saw when he sat in the gym, they were buddies. They were like him and Bobbi. Pals.

But when she told Clint she was dating Barnes, it was over. He had to get over it fast. It was taking too long, though.

“Clint?”

He rolled his head lazily in the direction of the voice, Patsy making herself comfortable next to him.

“Hey.”

“Hi. You alright?”

He turned to face her. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Patsy waved her hand. “I had a Physics test, nobody’s waiting for me to come back. I’ll ask again. Are you alright?”

Clint shrugged. “Dandy.”

Patsy sighed. “Alright, when I asked if you were okay at the movies, I let it slide that we dropped the conversation, because we barely knew each other. However, you’ve sent me pictures of squirrels you’ve seen on your walks home since I gave you my number in the car coming back from Uptown. I basically have to consider us friends now. Talk to me.”

“You say that like those texts don’t make you smile.”

“The first two did. The next fourteen didn’t.”

“Okay, fine, you’re out of my squirrel group message.” He paused. “Bob told me she likes me.”

“Really? Finally!”

Clint sat up straight, “What do you mean ‘finally’?”

Patsy snorted, running a hand through her mass of red hair. “She’s liked you for a while. Even when you weren’t that close during the Health thingamajig. I didn’t even know you, and she would tell me all about hanging out with you for that project and beyond.” She shrugged, turning to look at him. “Maybe you’re just clueless and didn’t pick up on hints.”

“Okay, ouch?”

She snickered. “I’m teasing. So you guys dating now?”

“No. I turned her down.”

It was Patsy’s turn to hit her head against the wall. “Fuck. I already know how she is right now.”

Clint looked at her, eyes wide. “Oh, Jesus, did I ruin everything? I wasn’t gonna lie to her just to make her happy. I fucked up! Of course! She’s crying, isn’t she? Christ on a bike!”

Patsy patted his leg. “Don’t worry. She’ll be in a blind panic, kind of like yours, for like, a day. She’ll be over it soon.”

“How long have you two been friends, anyway?” He asked.

She shut her eyes. “Elementary school. Jen Walters cut me in the lunch line and Bobbi punched her for me. She’s been by my side ever since.”

“Bobbi punched Jennifer Walters? The same Jennifer Walters who is feared and loved at the same time?”

“Yup.”

“Wow.”

“So, I know what we’re dealing with. She’ll be fine by tomorrow morning. Just give her a minute.” Patsy pushed herself off the floor, starting her walk back to her classroom.

Clint’s phone buzzed in his hand, another message from Natasha.

_If you’re not in the gym in the next ten seconds…_

XXXX

“Bruce!”

Bruce looked up from his book. Seventh period was his free period, and usually, he would enjoy the peace and quiet of the west wing of the school, since no one ever bothered him during this time. Basically, he was really confused that someone was calling his name.

“Tony? Don’t you have Chemistry right now?”

Tony slid onto the floor under the staircase in front of Bruce, making himself comfortable. “I heard the best news from Thor in Health today.”

“Or just ignore my question, that’s cool, too.”

“He told me that Steve and Sharon broke up on Tuesday!”

Bruce blinked, wiping a hand over his face. “Okay? I swear, ever since you figured out you liked Steve, you’ve gotten increasingly more unbearable and start to resemble a love sick puppy more and more.”

“I can ask him out now!”

“Or ignore everything I’m saying. Just treat me like a wall.”

“Love sick puppy, Chemistry class, I heard it all, Banner, don’t get snippy. Coulson knows not to question me anyway.” He threw his arms up, “Isn’t this great? I can date Steve!”

Bruce closed his book. “That doesn’t sound smart, Tony.”

Tony knitted his brows, his head tilting, basically proving that he was, in fact, a puppy. “Why not?”

“Well, first of all, you had all this time to ask him out when he was single.”

“I wasn’t sure if I liked him yet.”

“No, it’s not that you ‘weren’t sure’, you were clueless. Second, him and Sharon just broke up. Like, this is still fresh news. Do you think he’d be ready to jump into something that quick?”

Tony slowly dropped his hands, his happy grin fading. “Oh. Right.”

“They didn’t date long, I get it. But you need to stop thinking with your boner for a second.”

“When else have I ever thought with my boner?”

“Well, that time you came over that weekend after Homecoming and you were two seconds from being out the door and driving to Steve’s house to kiss him.”

“Okay, we had been slaving over chemicals and computers all day trying to get you prepared for your interview at D-NY, I was a little delusional.”

“A _little_?” Bruce sighed, “Give it some time. Let him heal. Then you can pounce. You just gotta be patient.”

Tony groaned, “I’m sick of being patient.”

“Not my fault you have terrible timing. Get back to class.”

XXXX

“Your arms aren’t straight enough.”

“They totally were! My elbows were locked!”

“That’s why they weren’t straight. Don’t lock ‘em.”

“Is it really that big of a deal if my one arm isn't 180°?”

“Jen’s already kicked someone off the team, Jan. It might be a big deal.”

Jan fell to the floor with a groan, crossing her legs. Her and Patsy were in front of Jan’s couch in her living room, which sat Natasha, Bobbi, Anna Marie, and, somehow, Hank Pym.

“I think you guys did great.” Hank said, five pairs of eyes landing on him. He hunched over. “What? It was good!”

Anna Marie shook her head. “Choosin’ the ‘good boyfriend’ route…”

“I mean, I don’t exactly know how cheerleading works. I’m a scientist. Was it really just the arm?”

Natasha waved her hand, “It was about fourteen other things.”

“Can we take a break?” Patsy whined. “My feet are killing me.”

“Fine, but you can’t touch the sherbet I brought.” Bobbi said quickly, “You haven’t earned it yet.”

Patsy pouted while she flopped on the arm of the couch next to Bobbi, while Jan dragged Hank into the kitchen. No one wanted to ask what they were doing; Jan was extremely transparent about the stuff she did with Hank when no one was around.

“Ten bucks she tossed him on the table and is suckin’ his face right now.” Anna Marie snickered, hugging a pillow against her chest.

“She’s done it before.” Natasha pointed out, earning a gag from Patsy and Bobbi.

“When you think about it, they’re kind of perfect for each other.” Patsy said. “Kinda like you and Bucky.”

Natasha eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean? We hate each other.”

“So that’s why me and Pats caught you sneakin’ him a little kiss during conditionin’ after school the other day.” Anna Marie said, smirking. “Yeah, true hatred. You’re totally his beard.”

Natasha hated herself for letting them see her face heat up. “I mean, I have to keep the act up. Can’t let the world know he’s been into Sam this whole time.” She smiled. She couldn’t believe they saw that. They had talked to her before they left.

She didn’t like it when people saw the rare moments she allowed PDA. It felt invading; it was something she liked to have with just him, and not all of her friends surrounding them.

“How’s it going with Bucky?” Bobbi asked, “You refuse to tell us how long you’ve two been dating, so I can’t ask about relationship milestones.”

“What constitutes a milestone?”

“First date, first kiss, L-word, meetin’ parents, proposal.” Anna Marie listed off, holding up the corresponding five fingers.

“Proposal? Am I supposed to know that I’m gonna marry him just because you and LaBeau are gonna elope any day now?”

Patsy and Bobbi laughed, Anna Marie shrugging. “Can’t say I don’t _not_ want a ring.”

“Haven’t you and Remy been on and off since, like, middle school?” Bobbi asked.

“Ever heard a’ lovers quarrel?”

“Times it by 40, and that’s Anna Marie and Remy.”

Anna Marie huffed. “Anyway, back to the original topic. You an’ Bucky. How’s it goin’?”

Natasha shrugged, “I dunno. It’s cool. He’s cool. I’m cool.”

“Say cool one more time…”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what you guys want to hear. We’re private people.”

“Can you at least tell us what milestones you guys have hit?”

Hank and Jan appeared out of the kitchen. “I’ll see you guys at school. Good practice!” Hank said, waving goodbye. Jan opened the door, kissing Hank before he disappeared outside.

“Did he remember to pull out?” Patsy asked. Jan stopped in the middle of sitting on the floor, Bobbi, Natasha, and Anna Marie hooting with laughter.

“We didn’t have sex, stop it.” Jan said, her face flushing completely red. “Let’s talk about something else. What’s going on?”

“We’re trying to pry into Natasha’s relationship.” Bobbi said simply.

“Did you ask about the milestones?”

“How does everyone know what the milestones are?!”

Jan snorted, “I _taught_ them the milestones. Talk to us.”

Natasha sighed. “Two of them. Happy?”

Anna Marie sat up, “Which two?”

“The first two. You apparently saw us kiss, so that should’ve been a no brainer. Plus, I don’t think you can go right from one to three…”

“When did you guys actually start dating?” Bobbi asked. “I can’t believe you haven’t told us these things, that’s what girlfriends are for!”

“Since Homecoming. There, you got it out of me.”

“Really? That’s gettin’ close to two months. Has three happened?” Anna Marie asked.

“What? No, that’s way too soon.”

“Hank and I said it after about two.”

“Okay, that’s you and Hank, not me and Barnes.”

“Do you love him, though?” Patsy asked. “Forget the milestones for a second. It’s okay to have not said it. But, do you love him?”

There was an innocence in her voice that made Natasha’s shoulders tense.

“How should I know?” She said quickly, looking down at the ground.

“You’ll know.” Anna Marie patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Jan, can we order pizza?”

“I’ve got menus for like, six pizza places in the kitchen. Go pick one.”

“First one there gets to pick!” Bobbi yelled, jumping up and bolting, closely followed by a scrambling Anna Marie and Patsy. Jan got up off the floor, looking at Natasha, who hadn’t moved.

“You don’t have to know right away.” She said gently, patting Natasha’s knee. She walked to the kitchen, yelling at Bobbi and Patsy to not rip any of the menus, and for Anna Marie to put the phone down, they hadn’t decided as a group yet.

She had never thought about if she loved Bucky. She loved a lot of things _about_ Bucky. She loved that he was good company no matter her mood. She loved that he didn’t overstep boundaries and talk to her when she wasn’t feeling talkative, but understood when she wanted someone around, and just stayed by her side. She loved that she could talk to him about anything, but he understood that she was selective on certain subjects, and knew not to pry. She loved the late night drives they took on weekends, and the funny stories about his childhood, and embarrassing stories about Steve that she couldn’t help but enjoy hanging over his head.

Did she love _Bucky_? Or did she love Bucky’s _friendship_?

“Nat! We’re ordering from that pizza place on 5th! That okay?”

Natasha jumped up. “Gross, they spit in their dough! Don’t call them!”

She joined her friends in the kitchen, her heart feeling heavy. She should love Bucky. Hank and Jan loved each other. Anna Marie and Remy loved each other, after all these years.

Why couldn’t she admit it?

Maybe she didn’t love him; and that scared her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me a minute to be motivated and finish this chapter bc i've been seriously absorbed into haikyuu!! and it's literally all i've been wanting to do. just watch volleyball anime.  
> seriously the night i first started watching it i watched TEN EPISODES. it's so good you guys should watch it  
> anyway. thank you for reading!!!!!
> 
> LINKS  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	16. A Study in War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The men (including Hank Pym, Wade Wilson, and Peter Parker) enjoy a day of paintball and paintball associated debauchery against some unlikely foes.

“Today, my comrades, is a battle. You came here today as boys, but you’ll leave as men. It’s like nothing we’ve trained for. There will be no mercy. You will not sleep, you will not eat, you will not drink—”

“But we’re gonna be running around. Is water allowed in this ‘battle’?”

“Yes, Bruce, water is allowed. Anyway, this is war! I hope you said goodbye to your loved ones, because—”

“We’ll see them in like, two hours, Tony.”

“—some of you won’t make it out alive!”

“Stark, stop being a drama queen.”

Tony let his arms fall to his sides. “Can’t you guys just let me have one war speech? I gotta get on the Pacific Rim and Independence Day pedestal of speeches!”

“You’re currently at ‘We dine in Hell’ level, so you got some work to do.”

Tony, Clint, Bruce, Thor, and Steve were in the lobby of Lensherr’s Paintball, an indoor paintball arena, on a quiet Saturday afternoon. They started coming as a group when Clint told them about the place a month ago, and after a fairly unforgettable weekend (only because it’s the most intense Clint had ever seen his friends, but their intensity was on different levels, so it turned into one huge train wreck that he couldn’t help but love), they decided that playing paintball would be a bi-weekly event. Tony thought of it as something they could do as a ‘guy-thing’, since their first, and understandably last sleepover ended very poorly, they didn’t have anything to do outside of the study group.

“How many do you think will show up today?” Steve asked, signing his waiver. Tony leaned against the counter next to him, looking at Steve. “I’m thinking ten. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was ten.”

“If you mean ten ‘whole-minutes-of-me-waiting-for-you-guys-to-fill-out-your-damn-forms’, then yeah, ten is right!”

Steve and Tony turned to the door, as well as Clint, who was standing on Steve’s other side, and Tony groaned.

Class president and vice president Wade Wilson and Peter Parker stood in front of them, with an obviously nervous Hank Pym standing behind them.

“What are _you_ guys doing here!?” Tony cried, “This is the _one place_ where I don’t have to deal with you lot.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Wade held his hands up. “This is a free country, Stark. I just so happen to be spending the day playing paintball with my friends, which is, coincidentally, what you’re doing, too. Just coincidences!”

“When have you ever talked to Hank Pym?” Tony asked, spitting out Hank’s name.

“I’m student body historian.”

“They will seriously let anyone into student body government. Okay, do whatever you want, just don’t get in the way of our game.”

The front door opened, two tall, black haired boys walking through, followed by six other people. They all stopped in their tracks, the first two boys smirking darkly as Bruce and Thor joined where the others were standing at the counter.

“Well,” The tallest black haired boy said over his shoulder, “Looks like we owe Bruce ten bucks each. They showed up.”

Tony’s hands balled into a fist. “What, you think we wouldn’t?”

“We were skeptical.” The other black haired boy, who was assumed to be Bruce, since everyone was handing him ten dollar bills. “That was a hard loss last time. That would scare anyone away from paintball.”

“You guys cheated!” Clint growled.

“Just because we win—and keep winning—doesn’t mean we cheat.” A blond boy stepped in between Bruce and the other tall guy.

Wade looked at the group of guys in front of him, then turned back to the others. “Who’re these rejects?”

The blond one frowned, eyeing Wade. “You bought some interesting new recruits. I gotta say, I’m impressed. Hopefully they aren’t as bad as the rest of you.”

Tony instinctively held his arm out, stopping Steve, who was in mid-step towards the other group.

Wade walked up to the blond one, his face fairly unreadable. Peter reached his hand out, Clint grabbing her shoulder and pulling him back, shaking his head.

“What’s your name?”

The boy looked slightly taken aback. “Barry.”

Wade smiled slightly, looking down to the ground, then back up at Barry. “Alright, Barry. I don’t know what beef you have with my friends, but you’re gonna swallow that cocky attitude before we get on that field, or I’ll force feed it to you.” He panned over the rest of the boys, then looked back at Barry. “By the time I’m done with you, and your rich kid cronies, I’ll have you crying to your momma’s 40,000 dollar boob job. You think you can underestimate us? You’ll regret it.”

“That’s funny, because the doctor told us when my mother _got_ her breast implants that they can’t be in water for—”

“That’s enough.” The tallest one said, raising his hand up. He looked at Wade, and then at Tony. “Let’s make this quick. Charlotte’s done cleaning the home theater at four, I expect to be back by then.” He paused, walking up to the counter. Tony, Clint, Steve, Wade, Peter, and Hank all stepped to the side next to Thor and Bruce. “Best of luck.”

XXXX

“Who are those guys and is it alright if I just choke them?”

The study group plus student government were in the staging area, suiting up and loading their guns. Wade was fuming and confused, but the study group was hesitant to give him answers.

“Am I not allowed to know who they are or something?”

“We’ve played them ever since we started coming here last month.” Bruce spoke up. “They’re from Justice Academy in Uptown.”

“I knew they had to be from Uptown…” Peter said, loading the paint pellets into the magazine. “I’ve never heard of Justice Academy, though.”

“It’s a private school, and they’re a bunch of rich jerk cheaters.” Clint said.

“Every time we come up here, they always show up with more people than us. They win with an unfair advantage.” Steve added.

“Wouldn’t the workers just throw in a random player?” Hank asked, sitting down on the bench.

“You would think,” Bruce said, “But they tell the employees that we’re playing a private match, and they don’t want any outsiders interfering. They always beat us.”

Wade held his gun in both hands, finger on the trigger. “Well, that changes today. We’re on your team, and we’re gonna beat them. Simple as that.” He clutched the gun tighter. “I want to shoot that Barry kid right between the eyes myself. Who were the tall guys?”

“Bruce Wayne was the one with the money, and their leader is Clark Kent.” Clint explained. “They’re the brains behind their strategy.”

“What’s their strategy?”

“You will see.” Thor stood up, fingering her hair into a pony tail. “It will all be very clear soon.”

Everyone gathered around Steve in the middle of the staging area, guns clutched in hand and a motive in everyone’s heads: beat Justice Academy.

“What’s the game plan, Rogers?” Tony asked.

Steve took a deep breath. “We’ve got three new members today. The playing field is evened up, so we actually stand a chance. The downside of this is that we don’t know how our new recruits play. So, we’re gonna keep everything about the same as last time—”

Wade swung his hand up. Steve sighed, “Wade?”

“Can I be in whatever the position is that gets me closer to Barry?”

“As long as you don’t kill him, yes.” Steve straightened up. “He’s fast. Like, insanely quick. He took out Clint and Bruce in the blink of an eye. Stay alert, and stay low.”

“Not fast enough for me, I’ll get him.”

“Bruce, I want you to go after Dick Grayson.”

Bruce groaned, “Remember the last time that happened?”

Tony sucked in a breath. “He narrowly avoided a lawsuit. He’s got a mouth, and that doesn’t bode well with Bruce’s temper.”

“I’ll take him.” Peter spoke up.

“It gets bad, Peter.” Bruce said, sounding genuinely concern. “He’s relentless.”

“I spend a lot of time with this one,” He patted Wade’s shoulder, “I can handle anything.”

“He’s got a point.” Wade shrugged.

Steve turned to Hank, who was trembling next to Peter. “Hank, I want you to stay low and towards the back of the field. If you see a shot, take it.”

Hank let out a breath. “Thank you. I’m not really gung-ho about charging into battle.”

“We know, Hanky!” Wade slapped him on the back, Hank recoiling in pain. Steve panned around his teammates, nodding simply. “Everyone else, the plan stays the same. Once you’ve taken down your target, go for Bruce and Clark.”

The door to the staging area opened, Pietro Maximoff, whose dad owned the place, entered, followed by the boys of Justice Academy.

“Alright guys, I know you’ve all been here before, but it’s required we go over the rules.”

“It’s okay, son.” Clark said, slipping him a twenty dollar bill. “Tell your father you told us everything.”

Pietro shrugged, stuffing the bill into his pocket. “I’ll take it. Three rounds, keep it fair and clean.” He walked over to the wooden door that led into the indoor field, swinging it open. It was on.

XXXX

Pietro blew the whistle, and silence covered the field, minus the occasional shout to a team member.

Peter ducked behind a barricade, heart racing. He had never been in a serious game of paintball; he came here with Wade and Hank sometimes, but it was always casual, and if they lost, it was whatever. This was intense, he didn’t sign up for this.

A shot fired, Peter ducking down further. No one was hit. He turned to his left, seeing Bruce run behind a tall barricade close to his position.

“Psst!” Peter hissed. He hissed again, a bit louder, Bruce looking his way. He motioned him to come his way, Bruce glancing from behind the barricade, quickly shuffling next to Peter, standing on one knee.

“Which one is Dick?” He asked, peeking from behind the barricade.

“He’s short with black hair. You’ll know it’s him.”

Two shots rang out. “They have more people, but they’re still a bunch of babies!!” More shots fired. “Get out here and fight!”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “That’s him. He sounds close. He’s reckless with his shots, so be careful. Take a shot, and fall back.” He straightened up, aiming his gun over the top of the barricade, firing three straight ahead, then ducked back down.

“Whoa-ho-ho, was that little Brucey?! Look at him, having some courage! Hopefully he doesn’t cry again. Come out and take another shot! I dare you!”

“He’s very close.” He looked at Peter. “You got this.”

Peter nodded, getting up from the ground to crouch. He turned to his left, taking a leap to another barricade, narrowly avoiding two shots in his direction.

“We got two in the middle!” That voice wasn’t Dick’s. Peter could stand behind this barricade, steadying his hands. He peeked from the left side of the barricade, seeing someone short with black hair shoot two past his left, and ducked back down. There he was.

“Out!” Someone on their side shouted. Was that Clint? How did he get out? He turned to see Clint walking off to out-of-bounds, dropping his gun on the ground.

Two more shots fired past his right. Dick knew he was there. Peter shut his eyes, listening. “Out!” Someone yelled on the opposite side.

Two shots hit Bruce’s barricade, followed by a taunt. That was it. Dick fired two, and fell back. He waited for the next two taking deep breaths. He tried to tune out the others yelling, and focused on those two shots.

They rang out and hit the barricade where Hank was sitting behind, Peter quickly stepping out and firing two straight ahead, hitting Dick in the face just as he was ducking down. Peter peeked out from around the corner, Dick standing up with balled fists. He was staring right at him.

“Out.” He gritted out, walking to out of bounds. Peter smiled. Maybe intensity was just what he needed.

He scanned the field from the corner he was peeking from. He saw Clark and Uptown Bruce were still in the game, but Bruce had moved from the back to the front of the field. He took a shot, not bothering to see if he hit anyone. “Out.” Tony, he believed, shouted. Who was left?

Peter looked at the out-of-bounds. Clint, Hank, Bruce, Thor, and now, Tony. That meant him, Wade, and Steve were the last ones. Shit. He knew at this point Wade was pissed off and jumping from barricade to barricade; he probably saw they had only taken out two players. He got reckless and let his emotions take over whenever stuff like this happened. He’d be out in no time.

He leaped to a diagonal barricade, officially in the front. Wade and Steve were flanking him, crouched and out of sight.

“They’re all in a row!” Dick shouted from the sidelines. “The front three! Take ‘em out, Bruce!”

Wade cursed loudly, taking a shot. He was hit in the shoulder with red paint, letting out a frazzled yell and dropped his hands to his side. He looked up, watching Barry run behind a barricade, poking his head out from the side and smirking. “Out.” He pointed to Barry, making his way to his teammates.

“Two more, two more!”

“Don’t let them scare you, Peter!” Hank shouted. “Stay calm and think!”

Peter took a deep breath. His hands were starting to shake again. _Think, Pete. Think._

“Peter.”

He looked up to his right, Steve looking at him. “They all moved to the front. Take as many shots as you can.”

Peter nodded, gripping his gun. He fired three shots from both sides of his barricade, smiling when he heard an “Out!”

He leaned back out to take another shot, but a paintball hit him in the leg before he could pull the trigger, a perfect green splatter chilling on his shin. He sighed, looking at Steve. He shrugged. “Out.” He called, jogging off the field. He stood next to Wade, who rested a hand on his shoulder. “How many did you take out?”

“Two. I’m surprised I even got that many.”

“Was one of them the loud mouth shorty?”

Peter glanced to the other side of the out-of-bounds, Dick looking right back at him. He turned away quickly. “Yeah. That’s Dick.” He said.

“Dick? Jeez, what a fitting name. That kid marked you, dude. Stay cool in the next round.”

“I’ll be okay. He’s too cocky, he’ll be easy to take out.”

Wade laughed, a guttural kind of laugh, “That’s my Pete!”

Steve was hit soon after, the Justice Academy kids cheering while the remaining players walked over to their teammates.

“Sorry.” Steve said, taking off his helmet and started wiping away as much of pink paint as he could. “I got careless at the end.”

“Do not apologize, Rogers. We still have two more rounds. It’s not over.”

XXXX

They lost the first game. But that was okay. Wade was mostly just testing the waters, but now he knew what they were up against: sloppy amateurs.

The whistle blew at the start of the second game, Wade immediately ducking behind a barricade in the front. He wanted a clear shot of that blond fucker.

He watched from the back with Hank in the first game, noticing the positions of their opponents. Clark stayed close to the middle, Uptown Bruce in the back, while Dick and Barry stayed in the front. He saw how they attacked; it was so juvenile. He only got hit because he stepped out too early, and that Clark Kent took him out.

Dick’s style was to that of a whack-a-mole; he’d pop up, take some shots, go right back down, and repeat the cycle. He never moved from his spot. Wade was glad Pete took him out, that was just a stupid strategy.

But who he really wanted to take down was that Barry. His strategy was infuriating. He would run, right out in the open, and shoot with the scariest precision, and go back behind a barricade with a smile and let the others shoot the rest. He watched this kid run right through the center of the field and take out Hank and Bruce with barely a second between each hit.

He was good. Wade wanted to be the one to take him out. He wanted to take out the whole team. He knew he couldn’t, so he’d start with the runner and end it from there.

“Out.”

Wade peeked out from the barricade, another blond boy he didn’t know was walking to out-of-bounds. The first out wasn’t on their side. That was already a good start.

“C’mon out, lanky!” Dick shouted, firing two paintballs. “Give us the win! One lucky shot isn't enough!”

Wade rolled his eyes, poking out and shooting at Dick twice in the arm. “Shut up!”

Dick threw his gun on the ground. “Out!”

“Wilson!” Thor, who was behind the barricade behind him called. “Great shot!”

Wade smirked. “Thanks, tough guy!”

He heard four shots sound off, catching a glimpse of Barry running back behind a barricade. He’d be making another round shortly; Wade just had to be ready.

Three shots fired past his barricade to the other side, a focused Hank running to the barricade next to his. Two people called on the other side.

Wade did a double take. “Wait, Hank, did you shoot those?!”

“Yeah. I was doing the same thing as you last round. We’re winning this game.”

“I like the sound of that!” Tony shouted, taking a shot.

“Four left!” Clint shouted from the middle.

He heard fast footsteps.

Wade didn’t even bother preparing; he jumped out and took four shots. Three of them hit Barry in the chest. He immediately went back to hiding, peeking out to see how stunned he looked. He grinned.

“…Out.” Barry choked out, walking to the sidelines.

“Three! Three left!” Steve shouted from the front.

“Scatter!” Clark yelled.

“Hit ‘em while they’re moving!” Tony cried. It was almost simultaneous when everyone leaned out and started firing wildly, and they managed to take out the last three. Wade shot extra paintballs in Clark’s direction. He didn’t know if they hit or not, but he was still hit by someone.

“We…We won!” Clint shouted. Their team stood up and cheered, grouping together for high fives.

“What the hell!?” Dick yelled. “What was that!? What happened!?”

Wade grinned as he tore off his helmet, turning towards the sidelines. He pointed to Barry, who looked at him with wide eyes. “Force fed. Just like I said.”

Thor clapped a hand on his shoulder with a smile and a laugh. “Excellent show, Wilson!”

Wade ran a hand through his wild hair. “Thanks.”

“Keep up that attitude. We are tied now. Fight with everything in you this next round.”

“Will do.”

“No survivors!”

“Oh, God, someone handle Thor…”

XXXX

Justice Academy was panicking. Tony never thought he’d ever hear that sentence in his life.

When everyone regrouped with their respective teams, Tony glanced to their side, seeing Dick shoving U-Bruce. U-Bruce got up in his face, requiring Clark and Barry to push them apart. Tony smirked. They were breaking.

“Friends!” Thor boomed. “Play as well as you did this past round, and we may actually be victorious.”

Tony actually believed him this time.

They worked out a new strategy, an effort to take out more people at once. Tony wasn't totally sure it was going to work, but hey, they had to try anything they could. It was tied up.

Now, the whistle had blown, and the war was back in full swing. No one had gotten out yet; everyone was playing to the best of their abilities. Tony was posted up in the middle; he decided to ditch his usual strategy, which was take out the stragglers in the corners from the back. Bruce was better at that, since their opponents didn’t really see him as a threat and focused on taking out Thor and Steve, and, as of today, Wade. He put most of his energy towards getting Clark out of the running; once Clark got out, and this early in the game, morale would drop quickly, and the match would be theirs. Hopefully.

He stood behind a taller barricade, watching Peter leap from one barricade to another. He probably noticed that Dick had marked him, since Dick wasn’t used to getting out as early as he did these past two rounds. Hell, they never made it to a third round. None of them were used to _that_. He spotted Clark, who was in the front and on the far right. Tony fired off three quick paintballs, Clark ducking down in enough time for them to hit the wall.

“Out!”

Tony looked towards the back, seeing Bruce, their Bruce, standing up and walking to the sidelines. Shit, they took the first out. They already had the advantage now.

“No mercy, no mercy!” Dick shouted. “You see a head poke out, shoot it fast! Aim for the jumper!” He was referring to Peter most likely.

Tony fired towards Dick, hopefully trying to throw him off from Peter, but he missed. He managed, however, to take out somebody _behind_ Dick. He grinned when he heard them call their out. Good. They were even now.

He ducked behind another barricade next to his last one, just as Barry was executing his sprint. He held his breath when he heard the four rapid shots fire, waiting. He sighed of relief when he didn’t hear anyone yell their out. That meant they were all focused.

He peeked from behind the barricade, spotting U-Bruce directly in his line of fire. U-Bruce was usually tricky. He stayed in the middle and didn’t take any shots until there were at least three people left on the opposing side. He only stuck his head out for see if he needed to start moving, and there was no way to know when he was coming out.

“Now!” He heard Steve yell from the front. He didn't think they'd try it this early. Please, let this work.

Tony looked over the barricade, watching Wade, Hank, and Thor pop out and shoot Barry, who was just starting his sprint. He didn’t even have time react.

“Clint!”

Now Clint, who was one row ahead of Tony on the right of him, poked out and shot at Clark’s barricade, just as he was peeking out to survey the damage. He hit him right in the face.

“The king has fallen!” Clint yelled, “Storm the gates!”

Tony took advantage of the two people in the back looking out to see their leader had fallen, taking them out with just one shot each.

“Yeah!” Bruce cheered from the sidelines as the four freshly ‘killed’ opponents slinked over there to join him. “Three left! Knock ‘em down!”

“This can’t be real…” Dick shouted. “Bruce! Get up!”

Suddenly, Bruce stood up and shot for Hank, hitting him just as he was diving back behind his barricade, and Thor, who was aiming at him. Tony cursed, jumping up to the front via two barricades while there was a split second of lull. He ended up behind Steve.

“Steve!” Tony hissed. “Have you seen U-Bruce play like that before!?”

“No.” Steve said, “He’s getting serious. I’ll take care of him. If you’ve got a clear shot, take out Dick.”

“Can do, Cap.” Tony shuffled to the barricade in front of him, not hesitating to pop off a few paintballs in Dick’s direction, which was in Clark’s old spot. Wade hit one of the stragglers, leaving Dick and U-Bruce.

“Steve!” Wade yelled from the other side of their playing field, “I’m going in hot!”

“What?! Wade—!”

Wade stormed across the field, running right at Dick, frantically firing off paintballs. Dick was springing up to attack, but was hit multiple times across the chest. Before Wade could go for U-Bruce, he was shot in the back.

Dick ripped off his helmet, walking up to Wade. “Who the fuck are you!? Where did you come from?”

Wade took off his own helmet, getting close to Dick’s face, eyes wide and heart pumping with adrenaline. “I’m a nightmare, dressed like a daydream.” He grinned. They both called their out at the same time, storming off the field.

“He made a sacrifice…” Peter said.

“I didn’t know Wilson had it in him.” Tony thought aloud.

“Hey!” Clint yelled, “Save it for after the game, we got one more left!”

“Take ‘em out, Bruce!” Barry yelled.

“Finisher! Finisher!” Dick shouted.

“What’s the finisher?” Peter asked.

“We don’t know, we’ve never tied like this before.” Clint replied, “Fire at will!!”

Tony took a deep breath, standing up and leaning against the barricade. He felt a rush of air on his right, immediately snapping to attention.

U-Bruce was on their side. And he somehow shot him on the way there. He looked at Steve, who was also shot.

“Fuck!” Clint shouted, looking at the paint on his arm.

Then two final shots rang at the same time.

Everyone was quiet. The whole arena was silent, except for the heater blowing overhead. Pietro, who was standing by the staging area door, looked at the field with wide eyes and arms crossed. Tony immediately looked at Peter—

He was clean.

A paintball shot was splattered right above his head. U-Bruce’s stomach was botched in orange.

They did it. They finally won.

XXXX

“Well. We never thought we’d see the day.”

The sixteen boys were back in the lobby, paint on their fingers and a change in atmosphere.

Steve stepped forward, extending his hand to Clark. “Good game.”

Clark didn’t hesitate to accept the handshake. “As to you. You had us worried out there. We’ll come at you harder next time.” He released Steve’s hand, looking at Wade, Peter, and Hank. "You've got some admirable new faces." His face turned stern. "Don't get used to this." He motioned his men to the door, where they all exited in silence.

Steve turned around to his friends, all of them simultaneously cheering.

“That was amazing!” Clint marveled, “No, better than amazing, it was _phenomenal!_ ”

“We couldn’t have done this without the newbies.” Bruce said, smiling.

“Well, of course not!” Wade said, ruffling Peter’s hair. “One of ours made the winning blow! Ain’t he incredible?”

“Wade…”

“So.” Tony said, crossing his arms. “We gotta rework the strategy, and include these guys more. If you’re willing to join us, that is.”

Wade looked at Peter, then Hank, and back to the study group. Peter and Hank were smiling. He smirked. “Damn right you’re gonna include us. We’re gonna keep winning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let the choir sing!! ♪ filler chapter ♪  
> it's only a filler chapter for the shit that's about to come next lol  
> i had to ask my older brother how playing paintball was bc i've never been lmao  
> but this was so much fun!!!! hope you liked it. this was much longer than i expected lmao. but don't worry, we'll be back to normal plot (tf what plot who am i kidding) next update, i promise!!!
> 
> LINKS:  
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	17. A Study in Hot & Cold, pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The senior class takes a trip to a ski resort. Tony meets someone new, which makes Steve jealous. Thor, thanks to his brother Loki, gets lost in the woods, but, thankfully, comes across a cabin and a gentle face.

One week into winter break, and Tony was awake at six AM. He still had another half of a week of laziness to soak up, and he was awake. At _six AM_.

They had gotten an email about the trip probably two days after he helped planned it that night at the school, and they were leaving to Vermont close to a month and a half later. That was barely any time for people to scrap together money to go. He hoped that with student government’s supposed budget, they’d be able to help students pay to go.

Pepper wasn’t kidding when she said they had to rush; she wasn’t at school for the two days, and when Tony texted her about it, she just replied with, ‘sorry, I died like, three days ago, I’m literally a walking corpse’. But, he was more impressed about how quick the resort responded and agreed to let at least 200 high schoolers stay there for three days. He didn’t want to question Pepper Potts’ magic; he would just shut his mouth and enjoy skiing with his friends.

Now that the day was here, he wasn’t totally sure if going on this senior trip was a good call or not. It wasn’t a good call when he dragged himself out of the warm shower at 6:30, or when he hauled a duffle bag into his car while in the bitterest of cold and stabbing wind slapped against his face and his mom tearfully hugging him and his father scolding him about making good choices. It wasn’t a good call when he drove to the school in the pitch black on quiet streets in the puffiest jacket his mother could find him and three cups of coffee from Starbucks.

The parking lot was way more packed than Tony thought it’d be, which led him to believe that money did go towards students who couldn’t pay in time. Which was pretty fucking cool.

There were six coach buses lined up in front of the school, the only people outside being those in student government and the bus drivers. In the email, they were told the buses would be boarding at seven AM, so he had about fifteen minutes to kill before he had to step foot in the cold.

This trip _was_ a good call, he decided, when he pulled up into the parking lot next to Steve’s car, who was wiping his hand over his face. Yeah, seeing a sleepy Steve Rogers made being awake this early worth it.

Steve looked at him, waving. Tony nodded, kicking off the engine and opening the door, taking his duffle bag and drink carrier from the passenger seat. He tapped on the passenger window, hearing the door unlock with a click and jumped inside.

“Are you amped up to spend three days in the snow?” Tony said with forced enthusiasm.

Steve gave a weak laugh, “I don’t plan on being trapped in snow, if that’s what you’re implying. See, now I’m gonna get caught in an avalanche. You jinxed me.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.” Tony said, taking a sip of his coffee and feeling whole again. “Did you bring donuts?”

“Yeah. You asked me to.”

“I was kidding. You didn’t have to bring them.”

“Okay, I’ll give them to Clint then.” Steve reached at his feet, holding up a half dozen box of donuts. “Since you were joking.”

“No, no, don’t do that, I’ll eat them. I’m not gonna deny free donuts.” He held out the drink carrier. “I got you coffee.”

Steve smiled, “So we both can’t pick up jokes in texts. I didn’t ask for two, though.”

“The second one’s for Spider. She texted me at three AM asking me to get her one. I told her I wouldn’t pay for it, but she said she already paid me back. Checked my backpack, she somehow gave me four bucks to get her coffee when I wasn’t looking. I swear, she’s on another level.”

“I saw her put it in. You’re just oblivious to your surroundings.”

“If it wasn’t so early, I would punch you.”

“You can try.”

Tony side eyed him, Steve chuckling to himself. They sat in silence for a few minutes, munching on donuts and drinking coffee, just trying to wake up. But the car was so warm, and Steve was so close, Tony couldn’t _not_ try to doze off.

“Tony.”

He snapped his head up, looking at Steve. “Yeah?”

Steve paused, his eyes darting to the ground. He took a breath, looking back up at him. “I wanna ask you something.”

“Yes, I know, I’m such a good friend that I got you coffee, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Stroke your ego later.” He paused again. “I…Do you think—?”

There was a knock on the driver’s side window. Tony and Steve snapped their heads to look at the window, Clint waving to them with a bag under his arm and a colorful puff-ball hat on his head. Steve opened the window enough so Clint could see his face.

“Morning, Clint.”

“C’mon, we’re all getting on the second bus!” He reached in through the cracked window, stealing a donut from the box in Steve’s lap, shuffling through the snowy parking lot towards the bus with Natasha and Bucky.

Tony opened the passenger door. “Aaaaand we’re off!”

Steve hung back in the car for a few seconds longer, getting out of the car just as Tony was pegged with a snowball from Jane.

“Thor! Your girlfriend assaulted me!”

“It is not my battle to intervene!”

“AIM FOR HIS HEAD, JANE!”

“So Darcy can intervene? Ouch! That was my ear!”

Tony got on the second bus, like his friends told him to, expecting to sit next to Bruce, or Steve. He was mostly planning for the long road; a three and a half hour drive next to either of them would be pleasant, and it’d go by fast. He already hated driving to school, and sitting in the same spot for close to four hours is something he hated even more.

So he quickly snagged a window seat towards the back after he handed off his bag to the bus driver to put in the compartment under the bus. He was 50% sure that Bruce was right behind him when he handed off his bag, so he goofed off on his phone, waiting. He felt a body slide into the seat next to him.

“Did you get tangled in your bag—” Tony stopped. “Clint, move.”

“What? What’d I do?”

“You know how you get during longer than average car rides.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Two words: D-NY trip. You have a habit of rambling about literally anything.” Bruce appeared, sitting in the window seat in front of them. Tony nodded towards Bruce. “See?”

“Oh, come on, I was perfectly fine during that trip. I don’t know the meaning of ‘rambling’.”

“Did I just hear Clint say he was ‘fine’ during the D-NY trip?” Darcy said, sitting next to Bruce. She was followed by a long train of students, which included Natasha, Bucky, Sam, and Bobbi. “We had to drop you off first.”

“So?”

“You live on the same side of town as Darcy and I.” Bruce said, “I wasted gas just to not hear you talk about the metaphors in the first Shrek movie.”

“Okay, no, there’s actually a ton.”

Natasha snickered, her and Bobbi sitting in the pair of seats next to them, Bucky and Sam sitting behind them. “That definitely sounds like something Clint would talk about.”

Clint turned to Bobbi. “Was I unbearable when we went to Uptown for that movie?”

Bobbi shrugged. “Not really.”

“Ha! See?!”

“…On the way there. On the way back, God, that was brutal.”

Clint rested his forehead on the seat in front of him, earning a few laughs from his friends, talking about how Patsy could vouch that he wasn’t that bad, but Bobbi assured them Patsy was glad she sat in the backseat away from him. Tony looked up just as Steve and Thor walked onto the bus with Jane and Jan, sitting in front of Bruce and Darcy. He sunk into his seat, plugging his headphones into his phone.

Steve said something before Clint knocked on the window. Well, he was _starting_ to say something. He pulled up their text conversation, fingers hovering over the letters, contemplating if he should ask what he wanted. He exhaled through his nose, locking his phone screen and staring out the window, waiting for the bus to start moving. He’d ask Steve about it when they got to the resort; besides, they were assigned a room together with Thor. Perfect opportunity.

“Okay, Stark, please tell me you agree that moose are the most terrifying animal.”

“Oh my God…”

XXXX

That bus ride was by far the longest experience of Tony’s life, and he’s hooked up with Wanda Maximoff before, who continuously had to keep stopping to yell at him for something. He understood stopping to tell him what she liked and what got her off, but she would literally stop and tell him how greasy his hair was. The most difficult and longest road to a nut.

Sex aside, he couldn’t even get a wink of sleep. Clint rarely had a moment of silence, and Natasha refused to switch seats with him. But, when he actually was quiet, he was constantly tapping his foot to his music, or sounding off the drum parts. Tony was about ready to strangle him before they even made it to the border.

By the time they got to the resort at 10:30, he was exhausted. Only getting twenty minutes of sleep the night before, paired with a sleepless ride to Vermont, wasn’t a radical combination. He was one of the first people to collect his duffle bag from the compartment under the bus, and he approached Peter for his room key, who was standing in between the first and second bus, while Pepper, Wade, Sam, and Hank were scattered around doing the same.

“You’re gonna be in room 121.” Peter said, holding out the card key and glancing up from his clipboard. His brows knitted together. “Are you okay? You don’t look too hot.”

“Rule number one, Pete.” He started, taking his card from him. “I always look hot. No matter my level of exhaustion.”

“…You should probably get some sleep.”

“That’s the plan.”

Tony managed to find the hallway of hotel rooms in his sleepy daze, sticking his card key in the wrong door twice before finally reaching 121. He didn’t even shut the door all the way; he flopped on the bed closest to the window on the far side of the room, his body attempting to fall into unconsciousness.

“Rise, Stark!”

His eyes snapped open, laying his head in the direction of the door with one eye peering at Thor, who dropped his bag on the bed closest to the door. Steve was right behind him, a content smile on his face as he put his bag on the floor next to the middle bed.

“No. Sleep.”

“C’mon, Tony, it’s the first day!” Steve said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “We should hit the slopes.”

“I guess you didn’t hear me. No. Sleep.”

There was a knock on the door. Scratch that; probably seven knocks. Thor swung it open, Clint barging his way in, followed by Bruce, carrying a rather thick booklet, which Tony assumed was the itinerary and happenings in the resort.

“Alright guys, what are we doing first? We got the whole day ahead of us!” Clint said triumphantly with his hands on his hips. Tony was about to blow a gasket. This guy, who refused to shut the _fuck_ up for longer than ten minutes and wouldn’t let him sleep, wants to _do things_? He was stupid, Tony decided, but he wasn’t crazy.

“There’s a beginner's skiing seminar in one of the multipurpose rooms later. I kind of wanted to go to that.”

“The buffet is open for breakfast for a while longer! Let us dine like kings!”

“I could go for a trip to the sauna. I’ve never been to one. Isn’t that where deep conversations and shit happen?”

Tony turned his head and groaned into his pillow. Maybe if he didn’t say anything, they’d do something without him and let him sleep. Maybe if he just closed his eyes, by the time he woke up, they’d be gone. Oh, we respect that you’re tired, they would say, go ahead and get some—

“Stark, get up, you’re gonna socialize.”

“I’ll literally choke you if you bark orders at me again, Barton.”

“What are you so sleepy for, anyway?”

Tony didn’t even bother answering him. He sat up slowly, letting his feet hang off the side of the bad, running a hand over his face. “Since none of you will let me sleep—”

“You can sleep if you want. We’ll go on ahead, then.”

“Bruce, you beautiful tropical fish.”

“What?”

“Nope, out of the question. Let’s figure out what we’re doing.”

Tony sighed. “Fine. I’ll do the buffet.”

Thor let out a triumphant shout, causing his friends to flinch. Clint, Bruce, and Steve exchanged glances, shrugging.

“I could eat.” Clint said, turning on his heels and walking out of the room, followed by a giddy Thor. Tony slinked behind Steve and Bruce, his hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets and struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Tony.”

He turned around, albeit slowly, to a bewildered Pepper Potts, student government secretary.

“Pep.”

“I’ve successful transported our senior class across the New York border, I’m kind of on an adrenaline rush, actually, more like running on empty, what I’m trying to say is, let’s hang out. Where are you headed?”

Tony blinked. “All I heard was ‘hang out’.”

“That’s all you needed to hear.”

“We’re going to the buffet. You’re welcome to join us.”

“Food, yes, food sounds good.”

“Someone say food!?” Wade Wilson poked his head out of his hotel room. “I’m coming too!”

XXXX

As soon as they found a booth in the buffet, which was basically its own restaurant in the lobby, exhaustion was hitting everybody. Tony was glad, to be honest. He was starting to wake up, so now, he could hassle _them_ about doing things. Let’s go see a movie, he’d say, it’s two blocks away. No sleeping!

Pepper and Clint were still a little hyper, and Wade, too, but he was always hyper. Everyone else had mellowed out immensely. She would look up at the entrance of the buffet, almost like she was expecting Peter or Sam to run in and tell them something was wrong. Clint was mostly rushing everybody to finish eating, since he wanted to explore the resort. It was Steve’s turn to rub his temples and tell him to be quiet and be patient. Tony just sat there with a smug smile on his face as he cut into his waffles, indulging Pepper for the fourth time and heard her story about driving to Vermont and touring the resort.

He was now perusing the islands of food, trying to find some bacon. Usually, when he was burned out, he craved meat, and bacon was the perfect quencher for this ordeal.

Tony spotted a pile of it in a pan on an island in the corner, steam rising and billowing over the heat lamp. Jackpot.

He reached for a pair of tongs to gather his reward, another hand landing on top of his. He looked up right into puppy dog brown eyes shrouded by a mop of brown hair, and Tony swore, he _swore_ that he hadn’t felt more intrigued by a person in his life.

“Sorry.” The boy said, taking his hand off Tony’s. “After you.”

Tony swallowed. “No, no, it’s cool. I was a little overzealous anyway.”

He looked at Tony, smirking and looking down at the bacon. “Not really looking for a back and forth situation, so I’ll just go ahead.” He collected his bacon and gave Tony one last up-and-down. “Hopefully I’ll see you around.”

He shrugged. “I’m not one to chase people.”

“Then I’ll try to find you.” He walked away, leaving Tony’s hands shaking and his mind frazzled.

Who _was_ that? And why was his body reacting the same way when he saw Steve in a beater? Tony shook his head, filling his plate with bacon and walking back to the table, where Clint and Thor were seeing who could fit more rolled up pancakes in their mouths. He probably should’ve just stayed by the food.

He couldn’t help but scan the dining room, trying to pinpoint that guy; he had to get to know him at some point during this trip, or he may have lost out on an opportunity, since he wasn’t sure if he and Steve were going to work. Everybody was right, Tony had terrible timing. He was ready to ask the guy out on multiple occasions, but someone or something always called them away from each other. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to work between them. Maybe they could only be friends, and nothing more.

Tony felt someone nudge at his shoulder, looking behind him and seeing Puppy Dog smiling at him, and walking away with his friends, Tony assumed, out of the buffet.

“Do you know him?” Pepper asked in a low voice. Tony’s eyes lingered a little longer the door, turning back to Pepper.

“No, but I think I will soon.”

XXXX

“I am surprised you want to ski with me, Loki.”

“Oh, come on. As brothers, we need to spend time together.”

“We never do at home.”

“Conflicting schedules!”

“You refuse to be near me when I am free.”

“Stop talking.”

After eating with his friends, Thor was stopped in front of his hotel room by Loki, surprisingly.

“Are you busy?” He asked, his lips knit in a tight smile. “There’s a ski slope I think we should…experience. Together.”

Thor immediately thought it was a great idea. Loki wanted to hang out with him! He couldn’t remember the last time Loki had said he wanted to hang out. Maybe when they were young, and competition was only in their made-up games and not real life.

He told Tony and Steve the plan, which they didn’t seem too fond of, but Thor assured them that this was going to be okay. Tony had told him he was practically glowing, which Thor didn’t really deny. He gathered his heaviest jacket and softest gloves and hurried out of his room with Loki out of the back of the resort to the ski lift, taking skiers to the top of the enormous mountain.

Thor had been skiing many times, especially back in his home country. When the snow was nice and high, clean and packed together tightly, he would immediately head for the mountains on the outskirts of his town, snowboarding and skiing with Loki and his friends until it was too dark to see at the bottom of the hill. Since he came to the United States to live with his aunt and uncle, though, they didn’t have the money to do half the things he did at home, one of which being skiing. He didn’t mind the small sacrifice; it was just a blessing to be away from his father. When Loki followed a month later, everything felt alright. He could go without the mountains.

“I found this hill, while I was skiing earlier,” Loki said after they had gotten their seat on the lift, and were slowly trudging their way up the wire to the top. “That is similar to the one back home. The one Volstagg refused to ride down, but you, I, and Sif tackled with no problem.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “You mean Eoten? The giant?”

“That is the one.”

“Valiant! I must ride it.” Thor gripped his ski poles in excitement. “Thank you for telling me.”

Loki rested a hand on Thor’s shoulder. “I know how much you miss home. This will be good for you.”

Thor nodded, watching their lift inch closer to the top. He was the first of the two to leap off, landing in the snow with a big _foof_. It was too soft for his liking; but, it would suffice. Loki landed a few feet next to him, pointing in the direction to go and sliding in front of him.

“It’s up ahead!” Loki called in front of him. “You just have to go straight and you’ll be headed down!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He hoisted himself with the ski poles to end up next to Loki, giving him a nod and a smile before shooting ahead, hitting the decline of the mountain, leaning forward and whisking down the mountain, cutting through the snow and swerving away from trees.

“This is exactly like Eoten!” Thor shouted, weaving between more trees. This hill had many trees; he was used to trees, but for a resort, he would think they would cut down at least half of them.

Come to think of it, this was a very steep decline. Like, steeper than the hill from home. He approached flat land at break neck speed, standing up straight and digging his poles into the ground, skidding to a stop.

“This doesn’t seem—”

He turned around and saw there was no one behind him.

“Loki?” He shouted, his voice absorbing into the abundance of greenery. “Loki!?”

His face fell. Loki didn’t follow him. He was tricked. He should’ve known.

Thor looked around, his surroundings unfamiliar and vast. He didn’t even know which direction the resort was in. He leaned down and unbuckled his boots from the skis, boots sinking into the snow as he hiked the skis over his shoulder, and started walking deeper into the woods. He swallowed hard, pulling his hood over his head. He trusted Loki too easily; maybe it was because he still believed Loki was not only his brother, but his friend, and deep down, he knew Loki felt the same way. Jane and Steve would tell him constantly to throw whatever trust he had for his brother out the window. Thor knew he should listen to them; he just couldn’t bring himself to do that.

But now, he was in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how to get back to the resort, so the little trust he had for Loki was officially gone.

It felt like he had been wandering for over an hour. His feet were sore, and his face was red from the fast and cold winds. He was at the point where he was mostly looking for shelter, or a suitable place to call it a day. It was him against the elements today; well, until he could get a hold of Jane. Which he hoped would be soon.

“Are you lost?”

Thor turned around quickly, coming face to face with a man on a sit-ski. There was a pile of fire wood in his lap.

“Who are you?”

“Well, I should be asking you the same thing, considering you’re wandering around my house.” The man spoke with a British accent, and he nodded a little past Thor’s position. Thor turned back around, seeing a cabin hidden behind a wall of trees.

Thor was quiet when he turned back to the man, looking at the ground, and back to him. “Yes. I was steered in the wrong direction by my brother. Do you know how to get back to the resort?”

“You can’t, not on foot, that is. Men on ATV’s aren’t around this way until tomorrow afternoon, unless there’s a snowstorm. Which, may or may not be in the forecast.”

“Afternoon? I’m stranded until then?”

“You can stay in my cabin, if you don’t mind sleeping on a couch.” The man dug his ski poles into the ground, pushing himself past Thor and towards the cabin. What the man said hadn’t really registered with him until he was about three feet away, Thor rushing to catch up with him.

“Would it be a problem if I stayed with you? I do not wish to be a burden.” He asked, walking next to him. The man chuckled, “Not a problem at all. It gets a tad lonely out here.”

“My name is Thor, of Midtown, New York.”

“How formal of you. Call me Charles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part ONE of THREE!!! exciting  
> thank you for reading, and thank you for commenting as well!! it means so much :)
> 
> LINKZ:
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	18. A Study in Hot & Cold, pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bobby are getting close, a little too close, so Steve makes one last attempt to tell Tony how he feels. Thor, still stuck in the woods with a man named Charles and waiting for Jane to retrieve him, learns that they have more in common than he thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! so, if you've been following this story for a while, you've noticed that i try to update every friday. i've been really burned out from working, and really needed a minute to just relax and sleep. plus, i was feeling really uninspired to write, so i took a week off from writing in general. i really did need it, i came back ready as ever to keep going. hope you guys understand!

Tony had an eventful night. No, it wasn’t just the night, it was the whole day.

After eating breakfast at the buffet, Thor scurried off to hang out with his punk brother Loki, who Tony did not trust in the slightest, but Thor was way too excited and had way too much love for that fucker, so he and Steve let him go without another word.

He was able to _finally_ take a nap, only because Steve was burned out from spending part of his afternoon with Wade and Clint, and he needed to sleep just as much as Tony did.

So, after a blissful two and a half hours of unconsciousness, Tony was awake and ready to explore the resort. He met up with Bruce and Darcy in the lobby to go to the beginner’s skiing seminar close to two, but, he was…side tracked.

He wasn’t really paying attention while he was walking through the lobby behind Darcy and Bruce, and he bumped into someone, who was only a little bit taller than him, with a mop of brown hair, and he turned around and—

Wait. Seriously?

“I thought you weren’t one to chase people.” Puppy Dog said, smiling.

Bruce and Darcy stopped ahead of him, turning around. Tony swallowed.

“I’m not. Who said I was chasing you? Someone’s got an ego.” Tony smirked. Okay, he kind of was. He _did_ tell himself to keep his eyes peeled for the guy, but just as a precaution. Not some kind of infatuation. He wasn’t crazy. Kind of.

“Can I at least know the name of my fan?” Puppy Dog asked.

He sighed, looking at Bruce and Darcy. He nodded to them to go on ahead, which Bruce responded with a thumbs up, resting his hand on the small of Darcy's back and motioning her to follow him and continued walking down the hall in front of them.

“Tony.” He said after Bruce and Darcy were gone. “Tony Stark.”

“Tony Stark. Nice ring to it.” Puppy Dog said. “Bobby Drake.” He extended his hand. Tony shook it, looking back up at him, and he came to the conclusion that it was really hard to maintain eye contact with this guy, because he was staring at Tony with laser focus and it kind of scared him.

“Now that you know my name, Bobby Drake, can I go?”

Bobby shrugged, glancing to his side. “You can.” He looked back to him. “Or, you can join me and my friends at the lodge for some hot chocolate.”

Tony chuckled, “Tempting.” He paused, then shrugged. “Fuck it. Fine.”

“Alright, cool. Follow me.”

“Isn’t hot chocolate more of a thing that you drink when it’s not two in the afternoon?”

“We aren’t a conventional bunch.”

Maybe Tony should’ve been more cautious. He didn’t know this guy; all he knew was that he’s attractive and has pretty eyes. He could almost hear Bruce in the back of his mind while he followed Bobby to the back of the resort. Don’t think with your boner, he’d say, think like an actual person.

He also thought about Steve. He didn’t really know why he thought about Steve. Whatever this was with Bobby would definitely be temporary, maybe, but he couldn’t help but feel conflicted. He still really liked Steve, but nothing was going right. Nothing was moving forward.

Whatever. He needed to live for right now, be present and shit like that. He’d just enjoy knowing this boy’s name and that he was invited to hang out with him all in the same day.

And they hung out that whole day. That’s not something he expected. Like, at all.

Once they were in the lodge in the back of the resort, Tony found out that he was a senior as well, and was here for the week with two of his friends, a guy named Warren and a girl named Tabitha, from Downtown. They were both really welcoming, which made Tony a little less nervous, but Bobby sat really close to him on the couch and he immediately felt his face heat up, and it wasn’t from the hot chocolate.

“So, wait,” Tabitha said, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, setting her mug down on the table in front of her. “You got locked in the school? For a whole night?”

Tony nodded, “Yeah, my first period teacher didn’t tell our class that they were closing up early, so it was me and my friend Steve with three of the five student council members. It was a weird time.”

“That’s definitely happened at our school,” Warren chimed in, who was sitting in a chair adjacent to the couch Tony and Bobby were on, “They lock it down whenever they feel like it. It’s kind of a mess.”

“Got that right.” Bobby said, looking at his phone screen. He stood up, stretching his arms into the air. Tony pouted; he liked Bobby’s shoulder against his arm. It felt nice.

“They’re closing down the ski lift soon. Wanna hit some slopes?”

“But we skied all day yesterday…”

“Yeah, but we didn’t ski with Tony, Warren. Quit being a baby.”

“Quit being mean, Tab.”

Bobby turned to look at Tony, smiling at him. “If you’re up for hanging out with us a little longer…”

“I’m up for it. Let me get my coat.” Tony said, standing up next to him. “I have to warn you, though, I may leave you in the dust.”

“Please! I haven’t met anyone who could outrun Tabitha Smith.”

“Well, today, you did.”

He followed alongside Bobby, Warren and Tabitha walking in front of them, who was chiding Tabitha for her attitude.

“Sorry if my friends are a little much.” Bobby said lowly. Tony looked at him. “You haven’t met mine. You don’t know ‘a little much’.”

He chuckled, looking down at the ground, and back at Tony. “I just didn’t want them to scare you off. You’re pretty cool.”

Tony looked in the other direction, praying to every deity that would listen that Bobby couldn’t tell he was blushing.

He told them to wait for him in the lobby, jogging down the hallway of rooms and stopping in front of his, fumbling for his card key and unlocking the door, barging his way in—

Just as Steve was walking out of the bathroom, steam following behind him as he dried his hair.

Did he mention that he was only wearing a towel around his waist? And he was glistening? He was fucking _glistening_?

He hadn’t even recovered from blushing at Bobby, and here he was, his face immediately growing red. He thought his ears were gonna burn off. Was he being tested? What masochist would put Tony in this position? There was a cute boy waiting for him in the lobby, and now there’s _this fucker_ , who he’s sharing a room with, and Tony couldn’t guarantee he could keep his hands off him tonight, holy shit—

“Hey.” Steve smiled, running the towel in his hand over his face. Tony snapped out of his daze, releasing a breath he had no idea he had been hold in.

“Hi.” He choked out, rushing past him and grabbing his puffy jacket off the wingback chair in the corner by his bed. He rummaged through his duffle bag for his hat and gloves, trying not to throw up or cry because _goodness_ Steve Rogers was attractive. Especially fresh out the shower. He thought Sleepy Steve was his favorite Steve? Nope. This was surpassing it every second he was in this room.

“Where you headed?”

Tony came back to reality again, snatching his hat, which also contained his gloves, out of his bag. He needed to get out of here.

He turned around, eyes immediately giving Steve an up-and-down. He physically couldn’t help it. “I’m going skiing with some friends.”

“You already made friends?” The corner of Steve’s mouth quirked up, “You work fast.” He draped one of the towels around his neck. “Be safe, have fun.”

“Thanks, dad. I’ll try.” Tony said, walking past him as casually as he could. “I probably won’t be back until late, so don’t wait up.” He opened the door, starting to close it behind him.

“Tony.”

He stopped, poking his head into the room. “What’s up?”

Steve sighed. “Do you wanna hit the slopes with me tomorrow?”

Tony was quiet for a second, then he smiled. “I’ll fit you in. We’ll talk later.”

“Alright then.”

He shut the door, leaning against it and closing his eyes. Fuck, his will power was way better than he thought it would be. If this had been like, a month ago, it would’ve been over, he would’ve been on him like—

“Tony? You okay? You look sweaty.”

His eyes snapped open, looking to his right and seeing Bobby, Tabitha, and Warren about two doors away from him.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” He said. “Let’s go.”

After skiing with his three new acquaintances (and proving to Tabitha that there _was_ someone who could outrun her), the sun had set, and they were exhausted. Tabitha and Warren retreated to their hotel room for the night, Bobby telling them he’d be back in a minute.

“Do you wanna hang out at the lodge with me?” Bobby asked him while they walked to Tony’s room. “I mean, if you’re not sick of me, we did just hang out all day. If you want to, is what I’m trying to say.”

Tony breathed out a laugh, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re flirting with me.”

Bobby shrugged. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

Tony smiled. “I need to change, give me a minute.”

They were in the lodge for a long ass time, curled up in blankets. He noticed that Bobby was very quick to tell him about his personal life; he couldn’t help but feel a little happy that Bobby trusted him enough, and this early, to divulge about ripping his pants at his bar mitzvah, or about his over-critical mother.

“Do you trust me?” Tony said suddenly, Bobby turning his head to look at him with a confused look on his face.

“Yeah.” He said with no hesitation, “I mean, I guess it might be weird, since we just met and all. Tab always tells me I’m not very good at reading people, but I think I read you alright. I can trust you, and you know I can trust you.”

“I mean, you never know. I could be here just to ruin your vacation. Rob you, kill you.”

“If you wanted to rob me or kill me, you wouldn’t act as interested as you are in my dumb stories. Even Tab and Warren aren’t interested.”

Tony smiled, looking down at his hands. Bobby eyes lingered on him a little longer.

“Tell me about you. Your friends, your school. I wanna know as much as I can.”

XXXX

“Jane, please calm down. I am safe.”

“You didn’t come back to the resort last night, how can I calm down!? I was worried _sick_ , Odinson! I thought Loki actually hurt you this time!”

Thor was roosted on the couch of Charles’ cabin the morning after Loki purposely led him into the woods, with Jane on the phone. He should’ve called Jane the second he found shelter, but he was starving, and Charles was making a big dinner.

“You seem like a man who enjoys a feast, not just a meal.” He said to him last night as he wheeled into his kitchen. “You’re lucky I had a big grocery list the other day.”

He slept the majority of yesterday in the cabin, trying to warm his cold fingers and gain the feeling back in his toes. Charles was kind enough to lend him a pair of pajama pants, which Thor enjoyed greatly; they had little ducks on them.

But now, he was just waiting for Charles to tell him when the ATVs would be arriving, so he could return to the resort. And prove to Jane that he was okay.

“Loki did not hurt me.” Thor assured her on the other line, “Well, physically, no. Emotionally, yes. But this is not new to him. Please do not tell the others where I am.”

“But we can help get you back here faster! Steve can be really intimidating, that’s what you told me.”

“I do not wish to worry them and make a scene.”

“I thought we talked about this, Thor. You don’t have to feel—”

“I know.” Thor said quickly, running a hand through his hair. “I should return this afternoon. Promise me you will not tell Rogers, or Stark, or anyone else about this.”

Jane was quiet.

“Promise me, Jane.”

“Fine. Okay. Keep me updated. Be careful. I love you, okay?”

“I love you too. I will see you soon.” He ended the call, resting his phone in his lap.

“Your mother?” Charles emerged from his bedroom, wheeling himself into the living room. “Or someone a little bit more special?” He offered a small smile.

“Aye, my girlfriend.” Thor nodded, “She is quite concerned.”

“As am I, to be honest.” Charles leaned forward slightly, “How did your brother point you down to my cabin?”

He sighed, leaning back against the back of the couch. “My brother…hasn’t always been too fond of me. I always have hope that one day he will come around, and we can be as close as we were when we were younger. He told me that hill was similar to one back in our home country, so I assumed his intentions were good.”

“And you assumed wrong?”

Thor breathed out a laugh. “I did, yes.”

Charles chuckled, pushing his wheels backwards and heading towards the kitchen. “Your brother, he sounds like someone I know. Where did you say you were from, again?”

“Midtown, New York.”

“Right. I believe that’s where he ended up.” He opened his refrigerator. “I had a friend. We were very close, shared the same ideologies. He began to view things differently, and we had a…falling out. We both went down different paths in the end. Your brother and my old friend sound like kindred souls.”

“I have every right to believe that is a bad thing.”

Charles paused, “…A little. Help me out in here.”

Thor jumped up from the couch, rushing to the kitchen as Charles gave him the task of peeling potatoes for a stew for lunch. They fell into a comfortable silence.

“You said your ‘homeland’ a minute ago.” Charles said suddenly. “Where are you from, then?”

Thor smiled. “A land called Asgard.”

XXXX

“Where’s Tony?”

“Where do you _think_ he is?”

Steve paced around his room, Clint stretched out on his bed holding his phone above his face, and Natasha in the chair with a book. He had asked Tony to go skiing with him the day before, and he said he’d go, but he was late.

They decided on three that afternoon, and he was nowhere to be found, but Steve knew exactly where he was—

With _Bobby_. All Tony had to talk about since yesterday morning was Bobby. He went skiing with _Bobby,_ he met up with _Bobby_ after breakfast. Steve was getting sick of it, but it was also making him nervous. He didn’t know everything about what Bobby meant to Tony, but he knew it was more than just an acquaintance at this point, and Steve didn’t like that one bit.

“Go get him, then.” Clint said, “He’s most likely in the lodge.”

“No, no, he’ll come. I don’t wanna hunt him down, especially during his _date_ with Bobby…”

Natasha rolled her eyes, “You don’t even know if it’s a date, you’re just paranoid.”

“I mean, he _was_ texting the guy all morning at breakfast. And then left to hang out with him right after. There were tons of heart eyes emojis, I saw them.”

Steve exhaled through his nose, sitting on the foot of the bed. Clint looked at Steve, chuckling. “It’s okay to be jealous, Rogers. It happens to all of us.”

“I’m _not_ jealous.”

“That’s something a jealous person would say.” Natasha quipped, “Why haven’t you asked him out yet?”

“I’ve tried so many times—after study sessions, before first period, the school parking lot yesterday morning, but this one interrupted.” He playfully punched Clint’s shin. “Tony was out the car before I could ask. What if we aren’t supposed to date?”

Clint jumped up, “Nope, you’re supposed to date. The rest of us are more invested than you two at this point.”

“You’re meant for each other,” Natasha said calmly, “Ask him when you go skiing.”

“If he ever shows up…”

The door swung open, and, speak of the devil, Tony was behind it, a bit frazzled and out of breath.

“I’m so sorry, I completely forgot. Were you waiting long?” He rushed over to his bed, pushing Natasha’s feet out of the way and grabbing his jacket and hat from his duffle bag. Steve stood up, letting out a breath. “Don’t worry about it, at least you’re here.” He turned to Clint, “Make sure you shut the door when you two leave.”

Clint gave him a thumbs up, “Will do. Do you guys know where Thor is, though?”

“I saw Jane in the hallway last night when I came back from the lodge,” Tony said, now standing next to Steve, “She said he was with her all of yesterday.”

“Ah. Say no more.”

“Have fun, you two.” Natasha cooed, “You little snow bunnies.”

Tony groaned, walking towards the door, Steve right behind him. The door shut, Clint and Natasha looking at each other.

“Do you think…?”

“Oh yeah, definitely. There’s an unavoidable obstacle. It’s going down.”

XXXX

Steve was more quiet and standoffish than usual in the line for the ski lift, and it worried Tony a little. He didn’t ramble, but the guy started conversation. He had spent most of his morning with Bobby, who didn’t know _when_ to stop talking, so this was a stumble of a transition.

Things got serious pretty quick with Bobby, though. He had told Tony that he was interested in him, and wanted to possibly pursue something in the future. It was insanely straightforward and pretty rushed, but, Tony respected the guy’s bluntness; it was refreshing.

No one knew about this, not even Bruce, and he went down the beginner’s slope a few times with him just shy of two hours ago, and he tells Bruce everything.

He was infatuated with Bobby, so a relationship could possibly work—they were only two hours away from each other, Bobby in Downtown and him in Midtown, they had a fair amount in common, their personalities meshed well. But, real life would settle in when he left Vermont and returned to New York, and Tony wasn’t totally sure if long distance was a right fit for him. He made a mental note to talk to Pepper, because Pepper knows everything about everything, including his personal life, which she hates knowing about, but—

“So, what did you do all day?” Steve spoke up as they moved up in line, officially the next ones for the ski lift. Tony looked at him, the sun shining down on his tense face. What was wrong?

He shrugged. “Went down a few of the kiddie slopes with Bruce, hung out with Bobby most of the morning.” He chewed back a smile. “Bobby’s pretty great. You would like him.”

“He sounds like it.” Steve mumbled, looking away from Tony.

“You okay? You’re kind of hostile today…”

“I’m _fine_.”

“Did Steve Rogers just give the king of attitude…attitude? What peed in your cereal this morning?”

Steve took a deep breath, walking ahead and sitting on the ski lift, Tony scurrying to catch up with him. They were quiet when the lift started moving towards the top of the mountain, Tony clutching his ski poles tightly. Steve never treated him like this before.

“Is this some kind of payback for when I ignored you after Homecoming?” Tony blurted, “Because I’m sorry, I really am. We talked about it, and I’m sorry.”

Steve ignored the question, his jaw tightening and his gaze hard on Tony.

“Oh! Did Clint piss you off? I bet he did. What’d he do, did he ask you what your favorite Disney Channel movie was and got mad when you didn’t say Cadet Kelly? Cadet Kelly wasn’t that great, he can bite me, there’s better—” He stopped when he saw Steve’s face soften, and his eyes were clear and staring at him and he swore his heart stopped, because there it was.

That weird familiar pressure that was gone after Homecoming. It was warm, it was satisfying, and it was back.

It was Steve and the way Steve looked at him and that’s why he felt alright again.

Now Steve was leaning forward and his eyes were starting to close and Tony had never felt more panicked in his life. The gap between their faces was getting shorter and shorter until they trapped in a spontaneous, weird, awkward kiss.

Steve’s kissing him.

Steve’s lips are on his right now and it’s gentle and it’s loving and why the _hell_ did Tony still have his eyes open? That’s like, rule number one of proper kissing etiquette, close your goddamn eyes!

Then Steve broke the kiss and Tony, bless his heart, lunged slightly forward because he didn’t want the contact to end, because _Jesus_ , Steve Rogers is a great kisser, no matter how oddly positioned this was. Steve’s hand was on his face, Tony damn near dropped his ski poles, and Steve smiled the most sincere smile.

Tony’s throat felt tight and it was getting harder and harder to breathe, and it’s not because of the altitude, because they aren’t that high, but Steve is so fucking close and _warm_ and he wanted to kiss him again and again and again—

So he jumps.

The skit lift hadn’t reached the top of the mountain yet, but he jumps. He heard Steve yelling his name, and he landed in the snow with a hard _poof_ and whizzed down the hill. The cold was stinging his face and hitting his eyes but he can see. Tony can see.

He can see his feelings for Steve never left, they never formally arrived either, they’ve always been there, and he’s scared, but he can see _everything_.

He’s running because he knows this is a bad idea. He’s always been a Flight kind of guy anyway.

XXXX

“A snowstorm?” Thor said that afternoon, sitting at one end of the table enjoying lunch prepared by Charles, who was seated at the other end.

“Yes, there’s been talks of a blizzard for the past three days on the radio, but we’ve avoided it. Now, it’s supposedly on the way.”

“Will the men on ATVs be able to get here this afternoon?”

“No, not when there’s a warning put out.” He shrugged, “I doubt there will be one, though. Like I said, there’s been _talks_ , nothing confirmed. You’ll be back at the resort tonight, at the latest.”

“You are sure that I will be back tonight? My school trip is only for three days, and I leave tomorrow.”

Charles smiled warmly at him. “Don’t worry, you’ll return.” He backed out of his spot, wheeling back into the kitchen. Thor watched him leave, looking back down at his plate of meat and vegetables. He knew very little about Charles; he told him his age, and where he was from before moving to Vermont, which was a small town in England. He mostly just asked Thor about himself and left the room without telling him.

Thor was thankful for Charles giving him shelter for the night. It was nice to meet someone who understood him, especially when it came to Loki. Steve and Jane were great at listening to him, and offering their advice when they could, but they could never fully comprehend his situation. He needed this day with Charles more than he thought.

While he sat on the couch at close to six, Charles emerged from his bedroom, a walkie-talkie in his lap.

“The snowstorm warning passed.” He said, “There should be ATVs coming this way, you should start walking.”

Thor jumped up, walking towards Charles. “Are you positive?”

“I am. They should be reaching this location in about thirty minutes time. You should walk to the east from here, and you’ll meet them halfway.”

Thor nodded, pausing. “You wish to remain off the grid? Is that why they cannot come here?”

Charles looked at him, breathing out a laugh. “I’m glad we have an understanding.”

Thor smiled, walking back to the couch to collect his coat and gloves. Charles let him keep the ducky pajama pants, which made Thor incredibly happy, and walked him to the door.

“Thank you again for your hospitality, Charles. I will remember this.”

“Not a problem at all. Thank you for your company.” He leaned in closer, “If you could, don’t let anyone know of this cabin, or me, if that’s not too much to ask.”

“Of course. You will stay under the radar.”

“Thank you. Be careful.”

Thor closed the door behind him, his shoulders scrunching together as a cold wind blew. He turned to the east, as Charles advised him, and started trudging. After about twenty minutes, just as Charles’ cabin was behind him and out of sight, two pairs of headlights emerged over the horizon, Thor waving his arms and yelling. The ATVs stopped, one of the men jumping off and running towards him.

“Do you need medical attention?” He asked, resting a hand on Thor’s back. He shook his head, “No, I am alright.”

“Good. Mr. Xavier walkie’d us that there was someone lost out here. Let's get you back before this snowstorm hits. Do you know of the resort near here?”

Thor got behind the man on his ATV, turning around and speeding back in the direction they came from. “Yes, I’m staying there!” He paused. “I was told the storm had passed. Who is Mr. Xavier?”

“Nope, it's basically right over us! Mr. Xavier owns the resort!” The man replied, “He prefers to lay low and let management run things!”

Thor’s body relaxed. The walkie-talkie in Charles’ lap. He’s Mr. Xavier.

He smiled. He was cold, he was tired, and still a little mad, but he was happy. He got to meet a genuine old man in the woods, and now he gets to see Jane again.

Maybe now she can stop sending him frantic text messages.

XXXX

Natasha should’ve just stayed in her room.

“You’re gonna have more marshmallow than hot chocolate, Bucky.”

She was in the lodge with Bucky late that night, sitting between his legs on the floor near the fire. She was told they were gonna have a peaceful night together, none of their friends in site.

But even when his friends weren’t around, he was an idiot.

Currently, Bucky was trying to see how many average-sized marshmallows he could put in his mug of hot chocolate and still be able to drink it.

“This is number fifteen, this has to be a record or something.” His arm appeared from behind Natasha, dropping it into the mug. He carefully picked it up by the handle, holding it in front of Natasha. “Will you do the honors?”

Natasha hesitated, rolling her eyes and taking the mug from his hands. He tapped his hands against her hips, making a faux drum roll as she took a sip. She held the mug away from her lips, sighing.

“Still drinkable.”

Bucky triumphantly wrapped his arms around Natasha’s middle and squeezed her tightly, Natasha trying her hardest to not smile.

“Okay, you can do one more.”

“Oh, I thought you said this was stupid, _now_ you wanna participate?”

“I’m curious, okay? Give me the bag.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SWEET RELEASE!!! been building up this stony for a little bit too long wow  
> thank you for reading lil buttons :)))))
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	19. A Study in Hot & Cold, pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning from both Steve and Bobby that they both like him, Tony must decide who he wants to pursue a relationship with, so he goes to some rather unlikely faces for help.

Tony banged loudly on Pepper’s door, still in his puffy jacket, face red and lungs burning as he huffed and racked his knuckles against the wood and yelled her name. After he returned his skiing equipment to the rental desk, he ran up the stairs to the second floor. When he was in a middle of an anxiety attack, he knew to go to Pepper.

Mary Jane Watson ripped open the door, an annoyed and confused expression on her face.

“Where’s Pepper?” He exhaled.

“Pep—!”

Pepper appeared behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I would’ve known this one was for me even if I was on the moon. Thank you.”

Mary Jane nodded, giving Tony one last glance before she disappeared back inside the room. Pepper calmly stepped out of the room, shutting the door gently behind her. She leaned against the door, looking up at Tony.

“Breathe.” She said simply. “Deep breaths.”

Tony followed her orders, closing his eyes as his quick breaths fading into deep, slow, even breaths, his shaking fingers relaxing. His head felt full again. Like he came back to life.

Pepper watched him closely as he breathed, clapping her hands on his upper arms. “Okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Talk to me. Slowly.”

He took another deep breath. “Steve kissed me. Barely ten minutes ago.”

Pepper grinned, “That’s fantastic!”

“No, it’s not. This means he likes me.”

“You like him, too, don’t you?”

“I do. I like him a lot, too much, honestly, but you know Steve. Steve is perfect. Steve deserves that level of perfection, hell, even _higher_. You know who can’t give that to him?” He pointed at himself, “Tony fucking Stark, that’s who.”

“Breathe, Tony.”

“I’m breathing, Pep, in and out.”

“It doesn’t seem like it, because if you had enough oxygen in your brain, you would hear how ridiculous you sound.” Pepper sighed, “Do you think Steve expects perfection? Does that sound like something Steve looks for?”

“He has higher expectations, I know it, because there’s no way he’d stoop low enough to someone like me.”

“Tony, Bruce told me how excited you were to ask him out. Why do you suddenly think being with him is a bad idea?”

“Because I never realized how stupid us being together sounds.” Tony took a step back, leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor, his face falling in defeat. “What could I possibly provide for Steve? What can I give him that he doesn’t already have? He could have anyone in the world. Literally anybody. Being with me will just be a headache.” He looked up at Pepper. “Isn’t that what you told me?”

Pepper’s face softened, sitting down on the floor across from him. She was quiet for a minute before she looked back up with him.

“Do you understand why we broke up?”

“Yeah.”

“Because I like _girls_. That’s why.” She smiled, “Besides, you’re a headache no matter what. We’re not dating now, and you’re still a headache. That’s not a bad thing. That’s what makes you _you_. You’re a pain in the ass and that’s just who you are.”

“Insulting me doesn’t help.”

“I’m going somewhere with this.” She held her hand out, Tony reluctantly taking it. “You said so yourself that Steve can have anybody in the world. He chose you. That’s a good thing. And what you provide for Steve is yourself. Everything about you is what you have to offer, and Steve is clearly accepting it if he wants to be with you.” Pepper let go of his hand, sitting up from the floor and smacking him on the head. “That’s for doubting your worth to people, especially Steve, who already values the hell out of you.”

Tony rubbed his head, smiling slightly. “Sorry, mom.” He sighed, covering his face with his hands. “But what about Bobby?”

“What _about_ Bobby?”

He looked back up at Pepper. “I haven’t told anyone this, but this morning, Bobby asked me if it’d be possible for us to…be something in the future."

“So he basically asked you to be his boyfriend, if possible.”

“Yeah.”

“You guys met yesterday. That kid works fast…Do you like Bobby?”

“I don’t know, maybe? He’s attractive and he’s got a cool personality. He’s from Downtown, so he’s close to home. But then Steve kissed me and now I’m all thrown off.”

Pepper ran a hand over her chin. “So you have to choose.”

“I don’t wanna choose anybody, though.”

“So you’re gonna turn them both down?”

“No!”

“So…you have to choose. Look at that, back to square one.”

Tony groaned. “This has never happened to me before. I haven’t dated anyone since you, so I’ve never had to deal with anyone… _liking_ me. I was all about the ‘hit-it-and-quit-it’ scene.” He eyes widened. “This is the study group’s fault, so, indirectly, this is Clint’s fault. If he wasn’t failing Chemistry, this would’ve never happened. Let me go talk to him—”

“Oh my God, shut up, you progressively got stupider. Alright, let’s try and squash this—”

“Yo, Pep!”

Pepper and Tony looked up, Wade Wilson standing before them with a crooked grin and a blueberry muffin. “I got you a muffin before the buffet closed.” He sat down next to her and set it in her hands.

“Thank you, Wade. That was very sweet of you.”

“What’re we talkin’ about?”

Tony sighed. He might as well get an outside opinion. “Two guys are into me and I don’t know who to choose.”

“Do I know ‘em?” He asked, stuffing his hand in his pockets.

“Yes,” Pepper said, “One of them. But to make sure you aren’t bias, we’re not gonna say their name.” She looked at Tony. “Proceed.”

He shrugged, “Fine with me. So, I just got kissed on the ski lift by this person—we’ll say this is person number one—who I’ve been kind of interested in for a while. But, there’s someone I met yesterday—number two—who didn’t waste time telling me they’re interested, and I’m kind of interested in them too. I don’t know who to choose.”

Wade’s face twisted in thought for a few seconds before he looked back at Tony. “Okay, you met number two here then, right?”

“Right.”

“Number one. You don’t know number two all that well, they could turn out to be a person you don’t really like down the line. For all you know, this could be some kind of character they’re putting on, because they’re on vacation. They can be whoever they want to be.”

Tony and Pepper exchanged glances, looking back at Wade.

“Plus, Steve is a better option anyway, no matter who the second person is.” Wade smirked.

“Why do you think it’s Steve?”

“Oh, please, who else could it be?”

Pepper shrugged, taking the paper off her muffin. “In the end, Tony, it’s all up to you. We can’t decide for you.” She paused, “But we want you to end up with Steve.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

Wade and Pepper looked at each other, laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?!”

“Is he really this dense?”

“He is, Wade. He really is.

XXXX

Steve fucked up. He never used that word all that often, but he truly fucked up.

He swung the door open to his hotel room, hoping to find Tony in there. Not a soul in the room.

His shoulders fell. Why did he do that? There were a million other ways to tell Tony he liked him, but _nope_ , Steve went to the extreme. Tony had every right to run from him. He had every right to not talk to him, either. He walked over to his bed, falling onto it with a sigh. He needed to tell Tony he was sorry. Nothing else. He didn’t want to put their friendship in jeopardy like that. That was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

There was a knock at the door. Steve stayed still, hoping it was just Bruce looking for Tony, or—

Literally seven knocks followed. Steve groaned, hoisting himself off the bed. He yanked the door open, glaring at Bucky, who was with Natasha.

“What.”

“Woah, you’re back early.” Bucky said, folding his arms. “What happened?”

Steve scratched the back of his neck, moving to the side and nodding for them to come in.

“Oh no…” Natasha said, walking in slowly behind Bucky. “What did he do?”

“It’s not what Tony did…” Steve shut the door, leaning against it while Bucky flopped on his bed, Natasha sitting on the foot of the bed. “…It’s what I did.”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “Nat, we are witnessing the first ‘Steve Rogers Fuck Up’ in history.”

“This is the _first_? It took seventeen years for it to happen? That’s a phenomenal record.”

“Cut it out, guys. I…really think I messed up with Tony.”

“How so?”

Steve sighed, looking down at the ground. “I kissed him and he ran.”

“He _ran_?!” Bucky cried, “Why would the son of a bitch run, this is what you both have been waiting for! Where is he? I’ll talk some sense—”

Natasha reached back and grabbed Bucky’s arm. “Sit down.”

“I have to talk to him. I have to set this straight. I ruined the friendship that we had, all because I couldn’t resist—”

“Steve.” Natasha bit out. “Come here.”

Steve walked over to her, his brows knitting in confusion. She slapped both of her hands on his face, pulling him down to eye level.

“You did the right thing. Don’t worry.”

“But he ran, Natasha. He ran away from me like I was poison.”

“Of course he ran. He didn’t expect this. When the unexpected hits Tony Stark, he runs away, but you know what he does? He comes back. He runs home, and you’re officially his home now. This is going to be okay.” She ran her thumbs along his cheeks. “Even if he doesn’t like you, he will not stop being your friend. You are stuck with him for a long time. You did not lose him.”

Steve was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded. Natasha nodded with him, “Do you understand?”

“Yes. But what about Bobby?” He looked down, his face washing over in defeat.

“Wait, who’s Bobby?” Bucky asked, “Why has no one told me about Bobby?”

Natasha pulled his head back up to look at her. “Don’t think about Bobby. Bobby doesn’t matter. Think about Tony, you and Tony. It’s up to Tony to figure out how to handle Bobby, not you.”

She offered him a small smile. “You finally told him how you feel, though. I’m proud of you.” She let go his face, Steve standing up straight. He looked back at her and smiled. “Thanks.”

“That’s what I’m here for. I already know Stark is freaking out. Can’t lose you, too.”

“Can someone tell me who Bobby is? I can’t believe you would leave me in the dark like this, especially you, Steve!”

XXXX

Tony spent the rest of his day with Pepper and, surprisingly, Wade. He didn’t want to retreat to the room yet; he knew Steve would be there waiting, and he didn’t want to talk to him yet. He would talk to him when he got everything with Bobby sorted out, which, thankfully, would happen that night. While he was eating with Pepper and Wade, Bobby texted him asking to go to the lodge later. Tony had the rest of the day to figure out what the hell to do, but Pepper told him she didn’t want to hear any of it.

“We’re hanging out to take your mind off Bobby and Steve.” She explained, “Which means, you’re not allowed to talk about either of them while we’re together.”

“But I need help—!”

Wade stuck a finger out, wagging it in front of his face. “Ah, ah, ah, Stark! Nope. Pep and I already gave you our insight, and we can’t give you anymore…well, I could, but it comes with a price tag.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, “Wade’s right; well, the first part that is. We told you all that we can, and now it’s up to you. Our job right now is to be the suppliers for good times.”

“True!” Wade punched the air. “Pete told me there’s a Smash Bros. tournament in the lodge in about an hour. There’s gonna be free pizza!”

Pepper looked at Tony with a grin, “Smash! Pizza! Doesn’t that sound great?”

“But that’s in the lodge. What if Bobby is already in the lodge?”

“God, it’s like pulling teeth.”

“It’s a genuine concern!”

“We could hit the pool, then. How about that?”

“But I would need to get my swim trunks from the room, and Steve could be in the room…”

Pepper and Wade groaned. “Okay.” Pepper said, “There’s a game room near the pool. You won’t have to see Steve or Bobby there, and you can relax and just…breathe. Does that work? Is there some kind of loophole you can find there?”

Tony thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure, that works. But…I kind of wanna participate in the Smash tournament.”

“Great! We’re going that then.”

“You literally worried that…never mind. Whatever. Let’s go.”

There were more people than the three of them thought would be at this tournament, and Bobby was nowhere in sight, so Tony was able to loosen up and have some fun, which greatly calmed Pepper’s nerves. They stayed in the lodge for upwards of two hours, since Wade, who lasted the longest of him and Tony, was knocked out of the semifinals. Pepper didn’t even bother participating; she had never even played Smash, and knew she would just embarrass herself.

“Whoever the fuck that was cheated!” Wade shouted as the three of them walked out of the lodge, just as the sun was starting to set.

“I get you’re angry, Wade,” Tony said, “But you didn’t have to steal two boxes of pizza.”

“It’s my compensation. You think I show the world my talents for free? Not a chance!”

“You didn’t consider _my_ compensation, Wilson. I hung out with you for a day when I didn’t have to. Give me one of the boxes.” Pepper reached out her hands.

Wade’s eyebrow perked up. “You get your box of pizza if we can watch movies in my room.”

“Will Peter and Hank be okay with that?”

“If it inconveniences Hank, I’m all about it.”

“Onward!”

Wade was speeding off down the hall, Pepper yelling at him to slow down as she chased after him. Tony grinned, watching them run off. He didn’t tell them how much he appreciated them for doing this. He expected something like this from Pepper, but Wade didn’t even have to join in, he barely knew what was going on in the first place. Tony realized how different things were; he didn’t have just Pepper anymore. There were loads of other people who actually cared about him and his wellbeing, and he couldn’t help but feel warmth spread throughout his body.

“Tony.”

He turned around, the warmth retreating back to his chest, being replaced with a chill that started from his finger tips and numbed his hands when he saw how close Bobby was to him.

“…Hey.” Tony said quietly.

“I was just about to text you.” Bobby smiled. “Have you thought about what I asked you? I know, it’s super rushed, but…” He let himself trail off. “Can we go somewhere private?”

Tony swallowed hard, taking a step back. “Yeah. We can do that.”

Bobby took his hand, leading him to the back of the resort, most likely to the lodge. Tony held his hand loosely, a lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if he liked how fast Bobby was going; not just down the hall, but with this ‘relationship’. He didn’t really understand _why_ they had to go fast, since Bobby wanted to do long distance so bad. He looked up when Bobby led him to the couch in the lodge. Tony sat on one end, Bobby sitting next to him and tucking his feet under him to face him.

“I didn’t mean to like, ambush you.” Bobby chuckled nervously. “It’s just…my mom is coming up tomorrow morning, and I thought, y’know, maybe, before you head back to New York, I wanted to know where we were so…you could meet her.”

Tony’s heart sunk. Meeting his _parents_? Did this kid not know where the line was? It was officially making him uncomfortable. He was totally fine with casual flirting and holding hands at the breakfast buffet, he was a little uneasy about Bobby wanting to rush into a relationship, and now he was just…kind of done with it. Over it. This was an easier decision that he thought it would be.

“Tony? You there?” Bobby playfully waved his hand over his face, Tony snapping out of his thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. Um. Bobby, there’s something we need to talk about…”

XXXX

“See? I told you I was alright.”

Jane slapped Thor’s arm as he walked up to her. He called her on his trek towards the men on ATVs that he would be back soon, and there she was, waiting in the lobby, her arms folded an her expression impatient.

“What did you learn?” She spat as Thor wrapped his arms around her.

“To not trust Loki, especially since we are in a different state.”

“Why?”

“…Because he will do things to harm me and make sure I do not return home safely.” He kissed her gently; partially because she was worried about him, and partially to prevent another lecture.

“Good.” She said after they had parted. “I’m glad you’re alright, but, I have some news.”

“What is it?”

“I told Steve.”

“But you promised!”

“Thor!”

Steve emerged from a wing of hotel rooms in his pajamas. Jane took a step back as Steve trapped him in a tight hug. “Jesus, are you alright!?” He let go, Thor trying to regain his balance. “Where’s Loki!? I’ll teach him a lesson!!”

Thor looked at Jane, trying not to smile. She shrugged. “Sorry not sorry.”

XXXX

Tony turned Bobby down. It should’ve been harder, or at least pained him a little, but it really didn’t. ‘Infatuation’ was definitely the right word for these two days; an intense but short-lived passion for someone.

He told him straight up that there was someone else, and there were people better suited and closer to home out there for him. Bobby was sad, but he handled it well. He wished him a safe trip home tomorrow, and they parted ways. Bobby had asked him if they would still be friends, but Tony couldn’t really answer that. He’d probably forget to text him once they got back to Midtown, so a solid ‘possibly’ was all he could give.

He went to Wade’s room after leaving the lodge, hoping there was still a movie night in full swing, and there was. Pepper and Wade were joined by Hank and Peter, as well as Mary Jane, and they abused Hank’s Netflix until Sam Wilson knocked on their door to tell them to shut the fuck up at three in the morning. When Tony opened his door, both Thor and Steve were dead asleep. He was kind of happy; he didn’t want to talk to Steve yet. He would wait until the morning, which, in retrospect, was a terrible idea, since he was so excited about tomorrow that he couldn’t sleep.

That morning, the room was very quiet while the three packed. Tony kept stealing glances at Steve, who was mostly talking to Thor. He took a deep breath, and when Thor was out of the room and headed to the buses, he spoke before Steve could leave.

“Steve.”

Steve threw a glance behind him, hiking his bag over his shoulder.

“We…should talk.”

Steve’s jaw tightened as he turned around to fully face Tony. “We should. I’m—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run from you. I was just overwhelmed.”

“I’m sorry for overwhelming you. I should’ve just used words instead of…that.”

Tony paused. “…I just wanna double check. That meant you like me, right?”

Steve’s face softened. “Yeah. Looks like it.”

“Okay, cool. So, should our first date be tonight, or tomorrow? I’m free for either.”

Steve immediately smiled, shrugging and walking closer to Tony. “Whichever works best for you.”

“I mean, you’re the one who wants to _date_ me, which means you’re gonna have to deal with me, so, you gotta figure out if you're mentally prepared to—”

“Can I just kiss you now? Is that cool?”

“Jesus, _please_.”

Steve was in front of him in a heartbeat, hands cupping his face as he kissed Tony for all he’s worth, Tony wrapping his arms around his middle and fitting against him like a puzzle piece that had been missing for a long time. When their lips parted, they looked at each other with glassy eyes and crooked smiles.

“Tonight.”

“Yeah, tonight works best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and the three parter is over!! back to midtown high school we go  
> thank you for reading lmao
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	20. A Study in Countdowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The anticipated Chemistry midterm is right around the corner, which leads Clint to thinking about what happens after he turns in his test. Natasha makes a hard decision, but she knows it's the right one.

Winter break was behind them, and school was back in full swing. The students of Midtown High School were settling into their second semester, fully used to the cold and the snow, now looking forward to the sun to shine again.

Oh, and for midterms to be over. Everyone definitely wanted midterms to be over.

Clint dragged himself to Chemistry the first Thursday back from break with ten minutes left in his free period, equipped with a headache and a can of iced coffee, thanks to the vending machines. Everybody was studying for their tests starting Monday, so no one was really in a talking mood. It felt like a good idea to get a head start to class and beat the rush, he decided.

The study group was going double time now, since this was the test they had been preparing for for almost five months. Five months of hanging with those clowns after school, and, Clint had to admit…he felt more prepared than he thought he would at the beginning of the year.

He sat in his desk, leaning back in his chair and letting his backpack hit the ground. If someone had told him at the start of the study group that these people would become some of his closest friends, he would’ve laughed in their face, said ‘I don’t need friends’, and remain under the radar of the student body until graduation day. Until the study group had gotten closer, Clint didn’t really think he needed friends.

Barney was his brother, but he was also his closest friend. And Barney left. What was the point of making more if they would just leave him?

That’s what scared Clint about the study group ending soon. Since they wouldn’t be obligated to see each other every Tuesday and Thursday, would they stop talking to him? Leave him like Barney did?

“Afternoon, Mr. Barton.”

Clint snapped out of his thoughts, looking up as Coulson entered the classroom, making his way to his desk. “You’re here early.”

“…Just wanted to make sure I’m here so I can get as much information as possible before this midterm.”

“Right, midterms.” Coulson sat down in his chair. “Do you feel prepared?”

Clint turned around to face him. “Thanks to the study group, I do.”

Coulson let out a sigh. “I have to admit, I was worried about putting you and Stark together for this task.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t sure if Stark was the right choice, but, when I heard you brought the other four on, I felt a lot more at peace.” He nodded. “You all turned out to be a good bunch.” Coulson opened one of his drawers, pulling out a manila folder. “My offer still stands, you know. I hope you remember it.”

Clint shrugged, “Gonna be honest, Coulson…I forgot.”

Coulson chuckled. “That’s fine, that’s fine. If you get a 90 or higher, I’ll write you a college rec letter. Have you applied to any schools yet?”

Clint nodded. “Right, that’s it. I really appreciate that, Coulson. Um, no, I haven’t applied yet. Finances are the big thing right now…” He paused. “I wanna go to University of Southern Vermont.”

“USV? That’s a good school. How’s their archery team?”

“One of the best in the state.” He looked down at the ground. “I haven’t competed in a long time. I’m not totally sure if I’m into the idea of doing it again, but if it leads to me getting money to go to a good school, I’ll do it.” He looked back up at Coulson. “And with your rec letter, I think getting the financial aid I need won’t be a problem anymore. So, I’m determined to do well. I have a lot more at stake than a low Chemistry grade if I don’t.”

Coulson’s face softened as the bell blared. “I understand.” Students started pouring into the classroom, Clint turning back around in his seat. Tony fell into his seat next to him, Coulson handing both of them a packet.

“This is the study guide.” He explained, “I’m giving it to you both a day early. I want you to be here after school until five, instead of 4:30. Can you do that?”

They both nodded, Coulson making his way to the front of the classroom.

“Hey,” Clint said to Tony, “You ready for this test?”

Tony shrugged, “The real question is, are _you_ ready? You’re the most important piece of the puzzle, Barton. It’s all on you.”

Clint nodded, looking ahead as the bell rang again and Coulson began talking. Tony didn’t know that they both had different ideas of what this ‘important piece’ was. He’d just have to keep that under wraps until midterm grades were released. He didn’t want his friends to leave him, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to scare them by thinking he was leaving when nothing was finalized. This puzzle piece would separate him from his friends, and he would only push it onto the board if he was sure that was the right spot. It had to be.

XXXX

Natasha hadn’t had a boyfriend since eighth grade, when she dated Alexi Shostakov, who was a freshman. She felt special, that this older guy wanted to date an eighth grader. They dated for only a month, and he moved schools without telling her. She found out from a classmate. She immediately closed herself off from dating after that. When you’re in eighth grade, that stuff gets to you, and it got to Natasha. It got to her harder than it should get anyone, to be honest.

When she got to high school, though, she decided to try and open herself up again. Alexi was gone, she’ll never truly know why he didn’t tell her he was leaving. This was a new experience.

She joined the volleyball team. She talked to people from the tennis and golf teams, but she didn’t meet anyone who wanted to _know_ her. She met people, many people, who wanted to be able to say they conquered the cold mountain of Natasha Romanoff, also known as, they managed to bang Natasha Romanoff. She didn’t even know she was called the ‘cold mountain’ until one of her volleyball teammates told her. They didn’t want to tell her what it meant, until Jen Walters shouted across the gym that she was like a mountain, she was cold and dangerous and made you struggle to get to the top, which, in her case, was her pants.

What was the point of opening up, Natasha thought, if no one wanted to open her up more to the world and help her feel whole again?

Being open was a waste of her time. She was better off by herself. No one in her high school was worth it, everyone just thought the same thing, that she was something to be conquered. She was the mountain people wanted to climb. Now no one was allowed to try.

Then the study group came along, which led to Jan Van Dyne, which led to cheerleading, which led to Bobbi Morse, which, in the end, led her to Bucky Barnes.

When the study group happened, Natasha thought nothing of it. She just wanted to push Tony’s buttons, and yeah, she did want to help Clint out. But now, she had a whole gaggle of people who _did_ manage to conquer the mountain. Jen Walters was wrong, the top of the mountain wasn’t sex; it was her friendship, her trust. These select few people made it to the top, and they stayed. They didn’t climb back down. They made a home there, and Natasha would never, ever admit to them that she was glad they kept climbing, and didn’t think, not even for one second, that the journey wasn’t worth it. She was open again. There were people, real people, who made being open worth it.

She was on a long streak of being open, which one can’t really put into numerical value, but she did, because it had started when Bucky kissed her at homecoming, which was two months, two weeks, and six days, and she was going to keep it going.

But to be open, entirely open, she had to break up with Bucky.

She sat on the gym floor as sixth period was coming to an end. Clint had left, Bobbi and Anna Marie were studying furiously for their Spanish written midterm next period on the other side of the gym, and Sam was away with student government duties. That left her and Bucky against the wall closest to the locker rooms, Bucky playing a game on his phone, while Natasha let a book sit open in her lap.

She had been thinking about this since her sleepover at Jan’s house, when Patsy asked her if she loved Bucky. She lay awake in Jan’s guest bed with a snoring Anna Marie next to her, restless and a little bit concerned. I should love Bucky, she thought, I should 100% love Bucky. Why don’t I love Bucky?

During the senior trip, when she sat with him in the lodge late at night, she thought about it so much that she was in a trance at some points. Why don’t I love Bucky?

On the last day of winter break, she knew why, but she didn’t want to admit it. She was scared.

Natasha was scared to love someone fully like this. That had never happened to her before. She wasn't like her friends, who weren't scared to be emotional and talk about stuff like this. She wasn’t as open as Jan, she wasn’t as cool and collected as Patsy, she wasn’t as fearless as Anna Marie, and she damn sure wasn’t as in tune with herself as Bobbi was.

Bucky didn’t deserve this. He deserved someone who could love him as openly and as intensely as possible, and she couldn’t give that to him.

“Bucky.” She choked out. Bucky glanced up at her, looking back at his game and locking his phone. He looked up at her and smiled. “Natasha.”

“I…I wanna talk about something.” She could feel her eyes welling up in tears, but she just blinked them away and swallowed hard.

Bucky nodded, smirking a little. “I think I already know what you’re gonna say.”

She looked him in the eyes, pursing her lips in a thin line. “What am I gonna say?”

“You wanna break up. I could tell over winter break that you’ve been thinking a lot about something.” He chuckled. “You never space out when we’re watching Game of Thrones.”

Natasha smiled weakly, looking at the ground. “I’m sorry. I can’t give you what you deserve in a relationship.” She flicked away a stream of tears in a flash. She didn’t want him to see her cry. “When we started dating,” She said slowly. “I was not an open person, not with myself, not with anybody. I—”

“I want you to be open with yourself. I’ve always wanted that.” Bucky interjected, “And you can’t do that and be open to me at the same time.” He squeezed her hand. “You deserve to love yourself, and be honest to who you are. I’m always gonna be your friend, count on that. Oh, God, you’re stuck with me for a while.”

Natasha laughed, wiping her eyes. She frowned. “I’m sorry. I feel terrible about this.” Two months, two weeks, six days. She had to remember that. She wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for him.

“Don’t worry.” He took a breath. “You’ve been so closed off for all these years. That’s a lot to undo. It can’t just happen in the two months we’ve been together. You’ve got a mission now, Romanoff.” He ran his thumb over his cheek. “Besides, we work better as buds anyway.”

She reached out and hugged Bucky, catching him off guard. He hugged her back tightly.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Thank you for being true to yourself.”

“Sounding a little bit like a Disney film, Barnes…”

“Killing the moment, much?”

XXXX

“I’m going to _die_. I’m officially going to croak and die.”

“Jesus, Stark, quit being a drama queen.”

It was 4:55 in the library, and the third table was the only occupied place in the whole room. They had actually been studying for almost the full two hours, until Tony decided that enough was enough, and shoved his textbook back into his bag and dropped his head on the table. There was a domino effect, everyone else packing up for the day and sitting at the table in silence, trying to relax and recharge after all the information they just consumed.

“I think I have to agree with Stark.” Thor spoke up. “That was a very intense study session. Possibly the most intense one we’ve ever had.”

“It is the first midterm on Monday.” Steve said, leaning back in his chair. “Go hard or go home.”

“Did Steve just use _slang_?”

“You’ve been dating Tony for like, a week.” Bruce piped up. “What has he done to you?”

“You cannot be talking, Brucey,” Tony snapped his head back up from the table, “Because after you and Darcy started going steady, you used ‘swag’ in a real life sentence.”

“He’s got you there, Bruce.”

“Guys.” Natasha said. “I think we’re going crazy from all the studying. We should get out of here.”

“I’m cool with that.” Tony jumped up, tapping his fist on Steve’s shoulder. “Let’s go, that sandwich place closes at 5:30, and you promised we’d go today.”

Steve looked up at him with knitted brows. “When did I promise? I said we _could_ , if the study session didn’t run over. And quit hitting me.”

Clint faked a sigh, resting his head in his hands. “See, Bruce? This is what you and Darcy could be.”

“I don’t aspire for that. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Goodbye, friends!”

Clint turned to Natasha, who was just standing up. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“No, you’re not.”

“If you knew, Mr. Know-It-All, why did you ask?”

Clint stood up, “Because it’s impolite to assume. I know you, though. You were a lot more reserved today.”

Natasha sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I broke up with Bucky.”

Clint’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Why?”

She shook her head, waving her hand. “I’ll tell you later. I’m still kind of…raw about it.”

“I understand.” He paused. “Do you need a ride home?”

She looked up at him, smiling gently. “That’d be nice, actually.”

XXXX

“5:30, Steve! It’s 5:03! What if it’s packed? I won’t get that Italian sub!”

“Honestly, Tony, I have half a mind to just drop you off at home. I’ll go to the sandwich place and let you know if it’s any good. Wait, even better idea, I’ll take your mom!”

Tony was in the passenger seat of his _boyfriend_ ’s car, who was being extra sassy about this late lunch/early dinner date. Jesus, it was still so hard to believe that he and Steve were together. Sure, he was still nervous as all hell to be dating this guy, but that was okay. Natasha told him it’d be worse if he wasn’t scared.

He turned to Steve, who hadn’t kicked on the ignition, confused and getting a little irritated. Seriously, he studied his ass off today, and skipped lunch to help student government prom plans. He was starving.

“Everything okay, Rogers?” Tony asked once he noticed Steve’s face. He was looking at the steering wheel, thinking. He looked at Tony, letting out a breath.

“I need to tell you something.”

Tony cocked his head to the side, “What’s up?”

Steve reached out and took his hand, which was resting in his lap. “It’s about college.”

“We still have a few months until graduation,” Tony chuckled nervously, “Already thinking that far down the line?”

“I got into Mount Scott. I think I told you about before break. They were one of the colleges reaching out to me all the time. Email, phone calls, snail mail, you name it.”

“Oh yeah, you would text me about those emails. I just remember a lot of exclamation points.”

Steve paused, looking down, picking his words. “…I’m going there.”

Tony’s face fell. He looked at Steve’s hand wrapped around his, then back up at his face.

“So…you’re going…”

“…To Indiana.”

They had _just_ gotten together, everything was falling neatly into place, Tony was actually happy, and now—

Now he had to think about Steve leaving? This soon? He had to think about the _eleven_ hour distance, and shit, fourteen hours when he took into account that he was going to school in Massachusetts? This was too much, that was too much for him to know, too much to process, to—

“Okay.”

He was going to be present.

“Okay?”

“You wanna go there, right?” Tony squeezed his hand.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“Then I can’t stop you.” He smiled. “Just get ready to deal with me calling you a lot. Oh, maybe I can meet up with Bruce at D-NY, and we can come visit you together—”

Steve leaned over and kissed him softly, Tony’s stomach doing backflips, because he was not used to this. He probably would never be used to this.

He grinned at Tony, leaning back in his seat and kicking on the ignition. Tony’s eyes lingered on him as he pulled out of the parking lot, his smile faltering. He would freak out about this later. He just had to enjoy ‘Tony and Steve’ for now, and take it one day at a time. Pepper wasn’t close, and he wasn’t about to have an anxiety attack while Steve was next to him. He didn’t want to put that on him. Not this soon.

“Are you gonna help me with dorm decorations?”

“Of _course_ I am, have you seen your room at home? You still own a Furby doll.”

“I think it’s cute!”

“Unbelievable!”

XXXX

It was Tuesday of midterm week, and Clint didn’t have a midterm until three. He should’ve been enjoying the chance to sleep in, but, he was awake at eight AM. Wide awake.

His eyes were scanning his email vehemently on his desktop next to his bed, his leg bouncing under the table. He found an email, subject line, ‘Chemistry Midterm Grade’.

He quickly clicked the attachment, scanning the numbers. In Coulson’s class, he sent out test scores via email, and, so no one knew who got what grade, he assigned each student a new number after every test.  Clint’s number this go around was 33. He spotted 33 near the very bottom, his heart about to burst.

His stomach sank when he saw the score. He got an 87%.

He passed. He just didn’t get the score for the recommendation letter.

Clint sighed, leaning back in his chair. He closed the attachment, mouse scrolling over the X on the browser, hand stopping when he saw there was a second attachment. He opened it, brows furrowed in confusion, as a PDF file sprang up. There was a blank sheet, with one small block of text in the center.

_Clint—_

_Congratulations on your 87%. I’m proud of you. I know you got below the percentage for the recommendation letter, but, I wrote it anyway. Why let it go to waste?_

_Apply to USV as soon as you can. Good luck._

Clint scrolled down the PDF file, seeing the next page was the letter. He was already halfway down the hall.

“Mom! You still here?!”

“I’m in the kitchen, sweetie! What’s wrong?”

He slid into the kitchen, his mom packing her lunch before heading to work. He rested his forearm on the door frame.

“When you go on break, can you write down some information for FAFSA?”

“Clint...we talked about this. You know we don’t have that kind of money.”

Clint grinned. “I got just what I needed to make Southern Vermont a reality.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWENTY CHAPTERS that is insane. wow. and to think, in like, 2014 i never thought i would make it to ten. that's how unmotivated i was. wow. thank you for reading this far!!
> 
> LINKZZZ:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> cosmetic-killer (tumblr)


	21. A Study in What Comes Next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the Chemistry midterm is over, the study group must decide what to do with...well, the study group.

They all stood around the third table behind the nonfiction section after school on Tuesday, midterm week officially behind them.

They didn’t really know what to do about the future, though.

It started with two of them, Clint and Tony, basically strangers in the beginning. Clint knew him as the loud mouth who made seventh period drag on longer than it needed to; not really someone he wanted to become friends with. But they were friends now. They were _best friends_ now. Tony just thought this was a punishment, and not a place where he would meet good people, and a special someone.

Natasha came next, sarcastic and dry with pure hearted intentions and kindness. She brought Bruce, who rarely attempted to come out of his shell, but being surrounded by these people made it impossible to go back in.

Thor, mysterious Thor, came because of Bruce, whose innocence and willingness to always help breathed life into his friends, and breathed life into him, since he truly thought he would never find true friends.

Along with Thor came Steve, the final member of their group, who enjoyed being surrounded by people who didn’t have expectations of him and let him be himself.

These six misfits were brought together with a common interest: Chemistry. The test was over, the studying was done. No one knew what to do. Well, they knew what to do, they just didn’t know if it was a good idea.

“So.” Clint spoke up, clutching his backpack strap tighter.

“So.” Tony echoed. “Now what?”

Everyone was quiet. “The test is done.” Bruce said. “We…don’t have to come here anymore.”

“Aye.” Thor said. “We’ve done our job.”

Natasha shifted her weight on her legs. “We can leave.”

They all glanced at each other, no one turning to leave.

“See you guys tomorrow.” Clint said, heading towards the front of the library. Steve and Tony looked at each other, turning around at the same time. Thor followed soon after, leaving Natasha and Bruce still standing. Bruce was frowning, staring at his feet.

“Bruce? Are you okay?” Natasha asked, now standing next to him. He took a deep breath, looking back at her.

“What does this mean?” He said. “When I walk out of this library, are we suddenly gonna stop being friends? Are we not gonna speak in the hallways anymore?”

Natasha rested a hand on his arm. “That won’t happen. We’ve all been through too much together just to not be friends.”

“But what if that’s not enough?”

Natasha straightened her back, her face softening.

“Just because we’ve been through a lot doesn’t mean we have to stay friends. We’re not obligated to see each other twice a week now. What if we were only close because of an obligation?”

Natasha squeezed his shoulders, gently shaking him. “Bruce, calm down.” She took a breath. “I don’t want to stop being your friend. I can tell you that right now.” She looked at the table, then back at Bruce. “I’m gonna come back here next Tuesday. I’m gonna keep coming back here, because this is where I met my best friends. This is a special table. If you want to join me, that’s fine.”

“Why not come on Thursday?”

She looked in the direction of the door. “I want them to feel the same way we do, and maybe they’ll have the same idea after that first Thursday of not meeting up.” She straightened up, folding her arms across her chest and staring at Bruce dead in the eyes.

“Are you gonna join me?”

Bruce nodded quickly. “Yeah. I’ll be here.”

“Great. Now, let’s get out of here. I’m starving.”

Truth be told, Natasha was just as nervous as Bruce was. But, she had to stay calm for the both of them.

XXXX

“Midterms are over, all I can see is graduation over the horizon! It’s so close!”

“Wade, we still have four months left. It just became January. Now, focus. We’re talking about prom.”

It seemed like since the senior trip, Tony couldn’t escape the student council. He was basically an honorary member at this point. He _could’ve_ been a regular member—cough, cough, the _fucking vice president_ , if Bruce hadn’t dropped out of the race. But, that was in the past. Presently, it was Thursday morning, and he was spending his free period in the student council room, which was basically just an unused conference room in the main office. He helped the student council with prom planning a week ago, and thought it was just a one-time affair. Turns out, Pepper was getting the OK from Vice Principal Hill to let him sit in on prom planning for the remainder of the organizing period. Great. Awesome.

Sam sighed, “We have to have a theme picked by the end of the day. Fury has been on me about this, we’ve spent too much time debating.”

“Did you guys hand out the surveys like I suggested?” Tony asked, leaning back in his chair.

“We did.” Hank said, reaching down and rummaging through his backpack. He slapped a fat stack of papers on the table. “Peter and I counted them up last night.”

“60% were write-ins.” Peter said, shrugging. “The most that were the same theme was four, and that was ‘Winter Wonderland’. It’s a spring prom, that’s stupid.”

“We probably should’ve ixnayed the write-in idea in general.” Pepper ran a hand over her face.

“The student body already thinks we don’t listen to them.” Sam interjected. “The write-ins were just a way to make them feel like they have a say in this, when, really, we get the last word.”

Tony shook his head, crossing his arms behind his head. “I’m insanely lucky to actually know the people in student council. I love knowing that everything is a lie.”

“Not everything.”

Wade groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What was the number one pick?”

Hank scanned the notepad in front of him. “Starry Night was number one, followed by Metropolis, A Night in Paris, Hollywood Glamour, and Under the Sea.”

Wade snorted. “Of course Starry Night was number one! Could these kids get more basic?”

“Metropolis was number two?” Tony perked up. That was his idea. This brushed his ego immensely.

“Starry Night is too easy.” Peter said, “That’s the theme for every television and movie prom. It’s universal.”

“That’s why it’s number one.” Pepper explained, “It’s well known, and well represented. It’s really hard to mess up. I’m surprised, though. Why would Metropolis outrank Paris?”

“Because people saw it and thought, ‘woah, what a cool theme!’” Tony mocked, leaning against the table. “‘I bet whoever came up with that is just as cool!’”

He was met with a high five from Wade, which he gladly returned.

“We’re not doing Starry Night.” Wade declared. “That’s boring. I will not string white Christmas lights all over the gym.”

“But that’s what the student body wants.” Hank said, “If they want to see the Christmas lights, we owe it to them. They’ve spoken.”

“But we owe it to ourselves to have a better theme with better decorations that’ll blow them away.” Pepper said, letting her hand fall on the table.

“Starry Night is our cheapest option.” Sam said sternly. “I ran the numbers last night. Followed by Under the Sea, Metropolis, Paris, and Hollywood.”

“Okay, then do Under the Sea.” Tony chimed in. “Easy.”

“That’s just as lame!” Wade whined. “I want Metropolis. Classic New York City food, fun cardboard cutout buildings.”

“Okay, but that’s not interactive. What do we do after the buildings?” Pepper swiped a hand over her face, looking at her watch. “Third period is over in ten minutes.” She turned to Tony. “Can you come back here after school?”

“Can’t, I have study—” Tony stopped, his face softening. Oh yeah. Study sessions were over now. It was really weird to think about.

He was so used to dedicating his time twice a week to his friends in the library. He was halfway to not liking that that was ending now. Sure, he was glad he could go home after the seventh period bell and take naps now, but he liked seeing his friends twice a week, with no interference of life or classes. It was like a book club.

An idea flickered in his head. What if he told the study group to keep coming back? They didn’t have to study. They could hang out, unwind. The library didn’t close until five, he knew for a fact no one had any responsibilities after school. He’d pose it to Steve first, then maybe Bruce. He liked the sound of this.

But, for now, he actually had a responsibility after school.

“Oh, right, you have study sessions.” Pepper said quickly. “Duh. I forgot.”

“Nah, it ended after midterm week.” He waved his hand, “I’ll be here. Same room, right?”

XXXX

Clint didn’t want to go back to English. Not because he didn’t feel like hearing about their upcoming in-class essay—well, that’s not true, because he really didn’t, but he had other things on his mind.

He was hiding out under the staircase in the main hallway, his usual post as of late, wondering how his feelings for Natasha not only came back to 100%, but so quickly.

“So. You and Bucky.” He said, unlocking his car and diving into it after their ‘study session’ on Tuesday, which wasn’t really a study session, it was kind of like an awkward goodbye to the study sessions.

Natasha clicked her seatbelt, turning to look at him. “Me and Bucky.”

“What happened?”

She sighed, looking down at her hands. “I was honest. I told him that I need to work on being open and honest with myself, and he deserved someone who could do that for him. I can’t give that to him. I can’t give that much of myself to him when I can’t even do the same...for me. Does that make sense?”

Clint’s face softened, resting a hand on her shoulder. Natasha looked back at him, her face flooding in fear. She was always so stoic and unreadable around everyone else, but Clint had spent a lot of time with her, so deciphering her emotions wasn’t hard for him at all. She couldn’t fool him anymore.

“Yeah. It makes sense. I’m proud of you.”

“Why? I don’t even know if this was a good idea.”

“You did something that you were scared to do. That’s a big deal.”

Natasha shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that big. It just…it had to happen.” She looked straight ahead. “He was really nice about it, though. That’s something.”

Clint kicked on his engine, peeling out of the parking lot, his chest unusually tight. He wasn’t having a heart attack, he knew that. This sensation was familiar, but foreign at the same time.

Stupid, he thought while he sat in the hallway. You knew what that was. You like her again. But, it’s unavoidable this time.

Clint knew it was a bad idea to try and ask Natasha out this soon. She was cut wide open and vulnerable, and swooping in like this is such a dick move. It’d look like he was taking advantage of her, and would definitely lose her as a friend. He knew that. He just didn’t understand why he was _conflicted_. Like, it was so shitty that he was seriously on the brink of running to her…Latin, she’s in Latin, her Latin class, and professing to her that she’s all he thinks about when he can’t sleep at night, she knows more about him than anyone in town, even more than his own mother, that he would explode if he didn’t try this, and that he lov—

“Barton? You do not have a free period now…”

Clint looked up, Thor making himself comfortable on the floor across from him. He was getting serious déjà vu right about now.

“I just needed to think.” He replied. “Can’t do that and talk about the ending of MacBeth at the same time.”

“Ah! No spoilers, our class hasn’t reached the final act yet!” Thor let his hands fall, looking at Clint closely. “What ails you?”

Clint sighed. “You heard about Natasha and Bucky right?”

“Aye, Steve told me.”

“What if…” He tapped his hand on his knee. “What if…I asked...Natasha out…?”

Thor blinked. “But you cannot.”

“I know. I know that, I am well aware, but I have to try.”

“You…” Thor shifted his legs. He looked at Clint straight in the eyes, and Clint, for the first time in his life, was scared of Thor. He didn’t really talk to Thor a lot by himself. Usually the others were around. This was the first time he ever saw Thor this serious, and they played paintball together. They were always serious during that.

“Why do you think that is what you have to do?” He said calmly, not breaking eye contact. Clint blinked, swallowing hard. “I…I’m not sure. I guess…I like her so much, and I’ve liked her for a long time, I feel like I owe it to myself to do this.”

“That sounds quite selfish, Barton.” Thor said bluntly.

Clint’s brow hiked up, lifting his head up off the wall. “I’m sorry?”

“It is always a good idea to do things for yourself, but you are not considering Natasha’s feelings.”

“I am! That’s why I’m not asking her out!”

“That is not your plan, because you said so yourself, you ‘have’ to try. You’ve witnessed how uneasy and sore Natasha is about this, have you not?”

“Yeah. But—”

“So, you want to be with her to please yourself, but, will this please her?”

“I don’t know—”

“What will she think you are doing if you asked her out at this time? Even if she declines, what do you think will happen afterwards?”

“We’ll still be friends, I know we will!”

“But how do you know?”

Clint was leaning forward, arms rested in his lap. Thor hadn’t moved, hadn’t raised his voice, hadn’t even broken eye contact. Clint opened his mouth to respond, immediately closing it, his shoulders and face relaxing. He leaned back against the wall, wiping his hand over his face.

“…I don’t. I don’t know.”

They were both quiet for a few moments, both shifting uncomfortably. Thor breathed in through his nose. “I do not know if Romanoff has told you this, but…when I moved here freshmen year, Loki joined the tennis team. His sports career was very short lived. He was actually kicked off the team.”

“Is there a point to this?”

“There is, pardon me. She played on the volleyball team. She was friendly with some of Loki’s teammates, as she came to their practices often, and he told me that the boys were planning on being nice enough to her to take her to the bedroom. They were placing bets on who could get her there first. Once Natasha found out what they were doing, she did not come around to practices anymore. She did not talk to anybody after that.” He paused. “Now, I will ask you again. Even if she declines, what do you think will happen afterwards?”

Clint looked at the ground, shaking his head. Nat had never told him that before, and he didn’t blame her; she wouldn’t want to relive that part of her life again. “She’s gonna think I’m like them, not caring about her feelings and just wanting a reward or something. She’s gonna shut me out. But what about Bucky? What was different about Bucky?”

“Remember, they left Homecoming early, and spent time together alone. He got to know her, and he was genuine. He still is genuine. Barnes broke down her walls and saw more than what the tennis players saw. He saw her, as a whole mind, body, and spirit.” He smiled, folding his arms across his chest. “You, on the other hand, stuck around as her friend and confidant, which is what she needed first before Barnes.”

“Am I not genuine enough?”

“You are, Barton. You’re very genuine. But, the one thing she needs right now is good friends, and you are the goodest friend that she has.”

“Not a word, but, I’ll take it.” He looked back up at Thor, smiling weakly. “So, what’s my plan?”

“I cannot make a plan for you, but I do not think it involves you and Natasha romantically. Usually, when asking a friend on a date, the two remain friends, even though it is rocky for a short period after that. But, with Natasha, that could truly risk a friendship. I do not think it is wise to risk it.”

Clint groaned, hitting his head against the wall. He was surprised that there wasn’t an indent yet, since this was officially his head smacking wall. “Great. So, I gotta get rid of these feelings again? That took, like, two months to do it before.”

“Then it will take two months, hopefully less, to get over them once more.” Thor stood up, brushing his knees off.

“Besides, in our squirrel group message, you speak with Lady Walker the most. Maybe you should look at how you feel about her.”

Clint’s eyes widened. “Patsy? No, no, no! She’s just my friend! She didn’t want to be in the group message anymore anyway.”

“Aye, but she is still there. There has to be a reason why you kept her around.”

“Shut up, Odinson, get back to class.”

Thor bellowed a laugh, turning around and walking back down the hall, Clint smiling to himself.

“Hey, Thor!” He called.

“Yes?” Thor shouted, officially out of Clint’s sight. He assumed he wasn’t that far.

“We should hang out more.”

“I am free Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. We could congregate then.”

Clint couldn’t help but laugh. “Library, then. Tuesday. I’ll see you then, and you can tell me more shit you’re wise about.”

XXXX

Bruce stood in front of the door to the library on Tuesday after school, the hallways busy and simultaneously thinning out. His grip around his backpack straps tightened, taking a deep breath. He wasn’t totally sure if Natasha was playing him or not. She somehow knew how to cheat at Uno with the meanest of poker faces and acting skills, he couldn’t tell if she was serious about this or not. But, he was here, and he was waiting. He had told Darcy about Natasha’s plan the night before, sitting on the floor of her living room with instant ramen.

“That sounds like a good idea.” She nodded, blowing over her noodles. “You should go. Why are you second guessing this? You told me that the study group was the best thing that’s happened to you.”

Bruce shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wasn’t sure if Natasha was serious or not…I don’t want to look like a jackass.”

Darcy dropped her fork in her cup with a splash, taking Bruce’s hand in hers. “This is gonna work out, dweeb. She’s gonna show up, and it’s gonna be a good time. If it isn’t, just text me, and I’ll attempt to kick her ass…even though she could kick my ass without a hitch. I’m risking my life for you, Bruce, please know that I love you.”

Bruce chuckled, “I love you too, Darce. Thanks for hypothetically getting your ass kicked for me.”

“Hey, champ.”

Bruce spun around, Natasha standing behind him with her hands in her sweatshirt pocket. “Have you been waiting long?”

He couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “Not that long. Thanks for not standing me up.”

She shrugged, walking up next to him and swinging the door open. “I told you I’d be here. How was your day?”

“It was okay, I guess. How did you think that essay was?”

“It was kind of bogus, not gonna lie. Like, she gave us a prompt that wasn’t even on the practice sheet.” Their table was empty, Natasha making herself comfortable in her seat at the head of the table, kicking her feet up.

“My prompt was on it…” Bruce said, sitting in the chair adjacent to her on her right side. “Maybe you just got unlucky?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, I’ve had a string of bad luck lately.”

“What happened?”

“Well—”

“See, Steve? I told you we weren’t the only ones with the same idea.”

Natasha and Bruce looked up, Steve and Tony standing next to the bookcase. Bruce heart swelled.

“The lovebirds have arrived!” Natasha proclaimed. “Pull up a chair, we’re talking about English and bad luck.”

“Lovebirds?” Tony spat, sitting at the opposite end. “That’s what we’re called now?”

“Do you have a better name in mind, Stark?”

“What if we did, like, that thing where we combine our names?”

“That’s so tacky.”

“Steve, you’re the definition of tacky.”

“See? Lovebirds.”

“God, I could hear Tony’s whining on the other side of the fucking school.” Clint waltzed in with Thor, taking his seat next to Bruce, while Thor sat next to Steve.

“Your exaggerations aren’t cute, Clint.”

“He is not exaggerating, Stark, you are quite loud.” Thor snickered.

Tony and Clint bickered, while Steve just leaned back in his chair letting it happen, Natasha questioning why he wasn’t even trying to stop it. Bruce scanned the table in mild disbelief—no, not mild, it was pure disbelief at this point. They all came back. He was so worried that they’d never be in the same place like this again; extracurriculars, life, college, stuff like that could get in the way of friendships. Sure, they still talked in classes and free periods, but this was different. This was sacred, as dramatic as that sounded. It meant a lot to him, and hopefully, it meant a lot to his friends too.

“Guys.” Bruce interrupted, five heads turning to look at him. He smiled. “We’re gonna keep this regular?”

He was met with silence, which made his heart stop for a split second, until Steve leaned forward on the table.

“I’m gonna be here. And since I drive this one to school now,” He pointed to Tony, “He’s gonna be here, too.”

“True.”

“I’ll be here.” Clint said. “I have nothing better to do. Plus, I’m kind of fond of you losers.”

“Aye, I will be here. I’d rather not have more time at home with Loki.”

Natasha smiled at Bruce. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“Anyway, I don’t want to ruin this chipper mood, but, like, we have a Health test on Friday, and I wanted to study for that…” Clint said.

“Oh _shit_! I forgot about that! Yeah, I’m fucked, let’s study.”

“Even when we don’t have to study, we’re studying.”

“It is what we do best!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully you noticed the question mark is gone from chapter count. we still got time until the end tho!  
> thank you for reading for TWENTY ONE CHAPTERS thats insane. i never expected to be this productive. Wow.
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twit)  
> vodkakun (tum) (new URL!)


	22. A Study in House Parties, Round 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper needs Tony to be her wingman at a college party, so, naturally, he brings his friends...who bring more friends.

Tony met Virginia Potts when they were in the fifth grade. She kept to herself, and had the best posture in their class, which was an ample feat for a fifth grader. They were in the same homeroom, and he had never seen hair as red and fiery as hers. He had never _met_ someone as fiery as herself, he found out later.

He sat on the swings next to her at recess and asked if she liked her hair. She was confused, because why would someone ask if you liked your hair? This kid was an idiot.

When she asked him why he would say that, he said it was because she wore it in a ponytail every day, and wondered why she wouldn’t let hair that bright fly in the wind. No one had ever said anything about her ponytail, and no one was that observant, and the next day, she wore her hair down. Tony noticed. That was a mistake, because now, she was stuck with him.

He started calling her ‘Pepper’ in the sixth grade, which annoyed her to no end. He said it was because of her hair and freckles, but that didn’t make any sense to her. Pepper was black. If anything, ‘Paprika’ made more sense, but Tony liked ‘Pepper’ better. She couldn’t fix it, because it stuck, and now everyone just knew her as Pepper. Tony always grinned when they had a class together as the years went on, because everyone acted really surprised and confused when the teacher would called out ‘Virginia Potts’ for attendance.

No one was surprised when they started dating sophomore year. Well, Tony was surprised, because she said yes. He asked her out without wasting any time; no pent-up emotions, no sleepless nights thinking about her. He liked her and knew what he wanted, so he went for it. And she said yes.

As soon as they started dating, nothing felt right anymore. Holding hands down the hallway felt like an obligation rather than something they both wanted to do. They had kissed a whopping three times, and they both told each other long after breaking up that it was the weirdest experience of their lives. That’s when Tony knew Pepper wasn’t interested in him. It didn’t take him long after to figure out it wasn’t just _him_ she wasn’t interested in; she wasn’t interested in dating a guy in _general_.

Pepper called him up crying and came out to him in the wee hours of the night on a Wednesday. She kept apologizing, telling him how bad of a friend she was. Tony assured her that she wasn’t, and how he knew, and how proud he was that she decided to do this. They stayed on the phone until it was time to catch the bus, and he gave her a silent hug when he saw her walking into the building, where she cried some more.

If either of them were considering not being friends with the other before, it was impossible to leave now. They knew too much about each other. They were stuck, and they’ll be stuck with each other…forever, basically.

And now, Pepper, Tony’s dearest friend, had stumbled into the library Thursday after school with her heels in her hands, because after a certain amount of hours, Pepper decides that shoes aren’t necessary anymore, and Tony just thought it was when she wore high heels, but no, this happened with every kind of shoe. But that wasn’t why she was here.

“Tony, I need your help.” She quickly waved to the other five at the table, resting her free hand on his shoulder. “It involves a girl.”

“I’m in. What is it?”

She sighed. “You know that girl from that dating app I’ve been talking to for like, two weeks now?” She looked back up at the rest of the table. “Surprise, I like girls, not sure if you knew.”

“Wait, are there people who didn’t know that?” Clint said, genuinely curious. “Is this still a secret?”

“Pepper Potts: Undercover Lesbian.” Natasha said, waving her hand in an arc-shape.

“Guys, be respectful.” Steve groaned, running a hand over his face.

Pepper pointed to Natasha. “Maybe we can make that the spring play. Anyway,” She turned back to Tony. “She invited me to a party tomorrow night.”

“Great! Go.”

“It’s a college party. I need moral support.”

Clint’s eyebrows shut up. “College? College _party_?” He leaned forward on the table.

Tony waved his hand in Clint’s face, looking back at Pepper. “You’ll be fine. You don’t need me. What school does she go to?”

“College…party?”

“Of course I do, this is the first girl I’ve considered on a serious level. She goes to Starling College, which is twenty minutes out from here.”

“College party. College. Party.”

“What happened to Monica?”

“College—”

“Clint can come too. Is that what you wanted to hear?” She snapped, her hand on her hip. “Can you shut up now?”

“Yesssss…” Clint said, a victorious fist appearing from under the table. “College party.”

“Anyway, Monica was just a crush, that’s never gonna happen. Please come with me. They can all come, too, if that helps.”

Tony stroked his chin, eyes darting to the ceiling in thought. “I guess I’ll come.” He spoke finally. “Do you guys wanna go to a party?”

“Remember the last time we all went to a party together?” Bruce said. “Thor ended up on the roof. I was in the pool.”

“My sunburn lasted for two weeks.” Thor said bitterly.

“We’ll be okay. Trust me.” Tony reassured them, holding his hands up. He turned to Pepper. “Is there a limit on how many friends I can bring?”

“She said to bring as many people as possible, actually…it’s her friend’s birthday, she doesn’t really get out much, wants to make more friends, so—”

“COLLEGE PARTY!”

“I’m two seconds away from choking you, Barton. Two seconds.”

XXXX

By the end of the day on Friday, there was a total of thirteen people heading to this party at Starling. Including the study group. And Pepper.

Steve had asked Bucky, since Bucky was still moping and bitter from his breakup with Natasha and thought this would be good for him, and since Natasha was going, Bobbi decided it was a good idea if she was there to negate any awkwardness between Bucky and Natasha, which, no one expected there to be any, since they still talked to each other, and since Bobbi was going to this party, Patsy had to go, since they were a package deal anyway, and she knew Bobbi would do something stupid, and when Darcy heard that Bruce was going to some college girl’s house for a party, she had to come along, even though Bruce told her this girl was interested in Pepper, and, since Wade was considered to be one of Pepper’s closest friends (he claims), he had to go and make sure it wasn’t sketchy, and, like Bobbi and Patsy, Wade can’t go without Peter, and Peter is also Wade’s unofficial babysitter.

So. Thirteen high school seniors. It was almost fourteen, but Jane said she’d rather swallow lead then spend an evening with Wade, so she respectfully declined Thor’s offer. And, as a dig to Darcy, said she trusted that he wouldn’t do anything he regretted at the house. Thor knew better than to treat Jane’s trust lightly.

Pepper was told by her date that they’d be starting around nine, which meant to not come until an hour or so later. Four cars loaded up on the interstate close to 10:15, en route to Starling College, and, for some of them, their first official college party.

The only speed bump they hit was trying to find Pepper’s date’s friend’s house. Because she texted Pepper the street name, but the address wasn’t there, and they had been driving up and down the street for at least four minutes.

“Did she text you back yet?” Tony sighed, gripping the steering wheel tighter. Pepper, who was in the passenger seat, stared down at her phone, shaking her head. “Nope.”

“Why would she not tell you the address?” Bucky said from the backseat. “Like, isn’t that what you would text first instead of the street name?”

“She’s been drunk since, like, five. I’m not surprised.” Pepper looked back up at the windshield, pointing to a white house. “It’s this one. She’s mentioned to me in the past about Cindy’s pink shutters.”

“Thank God.” Tony said, immediately swinging into the driveway. “Bobbi was probably going to rear-end me if I had to pull another u-turn.”

“What’s your date’s name anyway?” Steve asked, also in the backseat. “And her friend?”

“Jessica Drew, and her friend is Cindy.”

“Y’know, Pep, we’re all actually here to hound Jessica and make sure she’s not some kind of catfish.” Tony pointed out, kicking off the ignition. Three more cars pulled in behind his, Tony taking a deep breath and getting out of the car. He hoped this went well, and not like the last house party. Yeah, he promised his friends they were gonna be just fine, but, when they were all together, it was basically unpredictable. Especially now, since there’s way more than just the six of them at Wanda Maximoff’s house.

He turned around, watching his friends make their way out of their cars and coming towards them, smiling bright and laughing fully. He smiled. Yeah. They were gonna be just fine.

They had been in the house for an hour now, designated drivers long assigned and everyone going their separate ways. Everything was going fairly smoothly. The place was way more packed than Tony had expected, since Pepper made this friend of Jessica’s out to be…a little bit lonely. There were people in basically every corner, loud music, and way more alcohol than probably even Rhodey had ever seen. Tony met Jessica, a criminology major, in the kitchen with Pepper, and he immediately liked her, because not only did she not care about the mass amount of high school kids in the house, she wasted no time in offering them some shots. Wade had somehow appeared next to them, arms folded and eyes narrowed as Jessica tried to keep her balance while dumping vodka into plastic shot glasses on the counter opposite of them. Tony turned to him, head tilting in mild confusion.

“What are you looking so salty for?” He asked. “You of all people should know when it’s time to let loose and party.”

“I’m not salty.” Wade said, his face staying scrunched and arms folded, “I’m just observing. Making sure this all checks out and Pep doesn’t get hurt.”

“Jesus, Wade, I really hope this isn’t some unrequited love thing, because I can tell you right now, it won’t work out.”

“Pepper, where did this ego come from? Have I rubbed off on you that much?”

“I don’t like you like that, Pepper! I’m just looking out for you.”

Jessica pushed a shot glass towards him. “Drink. You’ll be a little less salty.”

“Salt soaks up alcohol, genius.”

“Take the damn shot. What’s your name?” Jessica slurred.

“Wade Wilson.” He stuck out his hand, “Pepper Potts’ best friend.”

“That hasn’t been authorized.” Pepper said quickly, swiping her glass off the counter. “Where’s Peter? Why don’t you go bother him?”

“He was ambushed by some girl, she’s telling him her life story or something.” Wade pointed his thumb behind him.

Jessica choked on a laugh as she put her glass back on the counter, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “That’s my friend Cindy probably. This is her house. Well, her mom’s house.” She leaned against the counter. “She’s a freshman and doesn’t really know how to make friends. She’ll hang on to anyone who’ll listen to her.”

“That’s what Pete’s the best at!” Wade yelled, knocking back the liquor.

“Oh, yeah, then he’s definitely stuck with her. Don’t worry, Cindy’s not that bad.”

“There’s gotta be something off, because why would she want a bunch of strangers at her house?” Tony asked.

Jessica waved her hand, “That’s just who she is.” She looked up at Pepper. “Can I show you that pinball machine I told you about?”

Pepper’s eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot!” She turned to Tony and Wade, pulling on her jean jacket. “Gentlemen.”

“Make sure to wash your hands afterwards.” Tony said. “Jessica, dear, may I rummage through your assorted alcohol?”

“Go crazy, Tony!” She took Pepper’s hand, dragging her off into the crowd of people, and out of Tony and Wade’s sight. Tony looked at Wade, knocking back his shot.

“Wanna play bartender with me?”

“I saw some blue curacao back there, we gotta make a signature cocktail.”

XXXX

So. Natasha was playing beer pong. She officially felt like she was in a movie.

Across the table was Bobbi and Patsy, and next to her was Anya Corazon, a friend of Cindy’s and Jessica. It didn’t take Natasha much to see how plastered she was, since she was draping herself all over Natasha during the lull of Bobbi or Patsy’s turn, or twirling her fingers around her hair. She mostly brushed it off; she was having a good time.

She looked over at Bucky, who was on the couch with Steve, Darcy, Bruce, Thor and Clint. He was going through beers like it was nothing, and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit concerned. He had told her about a month back that he only drank when he was upset about something, and if he drank _a lot_ , someone had to step in. She couldn’t, though. Bucky had been really distant since their breakup. When they sat in the gym during free period, he managed to put on a smile then, share a few laughs like nothing had changed, but in the hallways, that was all gone. He always seemed like he was in very deep thought, but also looked tired. Really tired.

Natasha had told Steve about it before they walked into the house. He said he knew about Bucky’s drinking, and promised her he’d keep an eye on him. She just had to trust him, because she was probably the last person Bucky would open up to now. She hoped it wouldn’t stay that way forever.

“Loner!” Anya shouted, popping the ping-pong ball into the air, bouncing right in front of the long cup in the very front. She groaned. “Shit! Not again!” Bobbi swiped the ball off the table. She turned to Natasha. “Hit it, Red.”

Natasha chuckled, “So that’s my nickname now?” She sighed. “Alright, I’ll fix your mess.” She steadied her hand, rolling her eyes as Patsy waved her hand over the tops of the cups. She threw it, the ball landing in a cup on the right side. Anya threw her hands up and let out a triumphant shout. “Heatin’ up!”

“That’s not how that works, Anya.” Cindy appeared next to the table with Peter, a red solo cup in her hand. “I’m guessing you guys are friends of Jess?”

Bobbi nodded quickly. “Yeah! Thank you so much for letting us come here.”

Cindy waved her hand, “Not a problem, I love having people over. Peter was telling me about you guys.” She pointed to Peter, who shrugged. “I didn’t tell her that much, don’t worry. Anybody need a drink?”

Five hands shot up, Peter chuckling. “Alright. I’ll surprise you guys. We get next game!” Peter disappeared into the kitchen, their pong game resuming.

Bobbi rested her elbow on Patsy’s shoulder, holding the ball between two of her fingers. “Pats?”

“Yeah, Bob?”

“Which one do you want?”

Patsy’s face scrunched together, scanning the remaining cups. Natasha folded her arms. She didn’t know why they were acting this cocky; she and Anya had taken out four of their cups so far, and they’ve only gotten two.

“Back row, second from the left.” Patsy said finally.

“I like it, I like it!” Bobbi launched the ball, hitting the center cup instead. She threw her hands up. “Not the one you wanted, but that counts!” She stopped Peter in his tracks as he was walking back into the living room, taking the red solo cup from his hand. “I smelled the orange juice, this one’s mine.”

“Bullshit you could smell it!” Patsy took a beer bottle tucked in his arm as he walked past her, popping it open. “Maybe you just smell the last Screwdriver you had on your breath.”

“Take your shot, Know-It-All!” Bobbi shouted, sipping on her drink. Patsy threw her ball, landing in Natasha’s open hand. She cursed under the breath, taking a long swig of her beer.

“Are your friends always this…?” Cindy said to Natasha, letting herself trail off. Natasha held her hand up. “I know what you mean. They really are.”

A tall boy with tan skin and light brown hair appeared behind Cindy, draping an arm around her shoulders. “Are we up yet?”

Cindy shook her head, “Nah, they don’t know how to play pong. This is gonna take a while.” The boy looked at the cups, then up at the four girls. He sighed, “Jesus, you’re right. I’m tagging in for somebody.”

“Tag in for me!” Patsy said quickly. “I suck at this.” She walked over to the boy’s spot next to Cindy, formally introducing herself while the boy walked next to Bobbi.

“Alright then, who’s my new partner? Name’s Bobbi.” Bobbi asked, tapping her nails against her cup. The boy nodded to her. “Miguel. Nice to meet you.” He turned to look at the cups. “Well, Bobbi, we’re gonna shut this game down.” Miguel looked up at Natasha, giving her a half smile. Natasha smiled back at him, just as Anya hugged Natasha’s shoulders, resting her head against hers. She looked at the cups, ready to take a shot, just as Bucky whizzed past the table into the kitchen. She turned to the couch, seeing Steve sit up from the couch. They met eyes, both looking with concern. She nodded towards the kitchen for him to go after him, and he nodded back at her, getting up off the couch and walking towards the kitchen.

Natasha looked back at the pong table, throwing the ball and taking out the center cup. Anya cheered loudly next to her, lazily taking her shot and miraculously taking out one of the corner cups, Cindy telling her that _that’s_ when she should say heating up. She was smiling, but she couldn’t help but look back at the entrance to the kitchen. Neither of them had come back yet. She just had to trust Steve now. She had another shot to take.

XXXX

Steve slammed the door behind him, pushing Bucky out to the front lawn, covered in thick snow. It was time for him to talk.

“Really Bucky?” Steve said, walking down the front steps as a drunken Bucky Barnes regained his balance.

“What? I can’t flirt with people?” Bucky slurred, breath twirling in front of him like smoke and throwing his hands up. “I’m single! That’s allowed!”

“You were flirting with Pepper’s date!” Steve shouted. “She wasn’t even single! Or interested in you!”

“How was I supposed to know?!” Bucky shouted back, letting his arms fall to his sides.

Steve stared hard to Bucky, hands on his hips and jaw clenched tight. “What is going on with you?”

“Nothing, Steve.”

“Nothing? That wasn’t nothing. I just watched you guzzle six beers in a row like it was nothing. You had Tony make you three shots. That’s not normal for you, Bucky.” His face softened. “Talk to me.”

Bucky sat on the front steps. “I’m fine.”

Steve sat down next to him. They were quiet for a moment, Bucky swaying and Steve resting his hand on his shoulder trying to steady him. It wasn’t ‘nothing’. He wasn’t ‘fine’.

“It’s Natasha, isn’t it?” Steve said. Bucky whipped his head around to look at him. “What about her? This isn’t about her.”

“Yeah it is, Buck. I know you.”

“It’s not! She’s fine without me, I’m fine without her! She can make flirty eyes with some college guy but I—” He stopped, his shoulders relaxing. “…I have to sit here, and I have to watch it happen. I have to watch her move on from me. I can’t even move on.” Bucky covered his face in his hands. He spoke, muffled behind the wall of fingers.

“I miss her, Steve.”

“I know you do.” Steve said gently, rubbing his hand on his back. “That’s okay.”

“But it’s not!” Bucky let his hands drop in his lap, his eyes glassy, probably from a combination of alcohol and real tears forming. “I let her go. I told her I understood why she wanted to leave. I don’t, though! I don’t get it. We were fine. We were perfect.” He paused, taking a breath. “I loved her. I can’t even tell her that.”

Steve looked down at the ground, listening to Bucky as he drunkenly spilled sober thoughts into the cold air, his thoughts tangling up in alcohol occasionally when he paused or when his words stuck together. He knew Bucky was distant because of Natasha. He also knew Bucky was too proud to admit it just yet. He wanted to pretend everything was okay, and deal with his feelings alone. Steve knew, because he was familiar with that routine. He gave Bucky that routine. Same circus, different clowns.

He knew Natasha was worried about Bucky, but he couldn’t tell her this. It would eat her away inside. He already knew she was struggling with the breakup just as bad as Bucky was, she was just better at keeping it under control.

Steve couldn’t tell her this. He knew she was going to ask him about Bucky, what was wrong, if he’s okay. He wasn’t a liar, but in this situation…he had to be. He had to protect his friends. That’s all that mattered.

XXXX

Somehow, at around 1:30, Thor was playing beer pong. And Clint was loving it.

He was watching from the sideline with Patsy while Thor and Darcy took on Bruce and Peter, which was becoming more and more entertaining the more cups they hit. Bruce had hit the center cup on the first throw, which was ‘bitch cup’, so he had been on his knees trying to hit another cup since then, but he couldn’t even get a hit in, since Thor and Darcy had been heating up since the first throw. They were leading seven cups to one. Clint didn’t tell them that they could call a re-rack, since the three left were so scattered, because he loved how intense Thor and Darcy were getting.

After Bobbi and Miguel had won against Natasha and Anya, Bobbi went off with Miguel and was glued to him, which made Clint feel better, since he had rejected Bobbi and felt like the devil for at least a week.

But now he was laughing with his friends, and standing next to a cute girl. And he was gonna ask out this cute girl.

When Thor had mentioned about revaluating how he felt about her, Clint had been thinking about it nonstop. Did he like Patsy? The more he thought about it, this didn't make sense, because he really should’ve liked Bobbi when she asked him out, and it was weird that he didn’t. They had a lot in common, they hung out pretty often. Then he realized it was because he had a thing for Patsy, and never gave it a second thought until Thor used his weird magical wisdom and tapped into that part of his brain.

So, now that he knew, it was time to _not_ pull a Tony Stark and wait too fucking long to date her, and just _do it_.

Clint looked at Patsy, who was running her hand through her red hair and laughing as Bruce missed yet another cup.

“Hey, Patsy.”

Patsy looked up at him. “Hey, Clint.”

He took a swig of his water. “Are you busy tomorrow night?”

She looked at the game again, hugging her middle with her free hand, cradling her beer with the other. “Probably. Why?”

Clint’s shoulders relaxed. Fuck. He might as well be blunt now. “I was gonna ask you on a date.”

“Good, I’m glad you asked, because the ‘probably’ was referring to the date we're gonna go on.” She turned back to look at him, a smile on her face.

Clint couldn’t help but grin. “You scared me for a second.”

Patsy pressed the beer bottle against her lips. “I can’t make it that easy, can I?”

“Yes! Thank God! I can finally get off my knees!”

“BOOM! Another cup! We're _so_ going to win! Suck on _that_!”

“Darcy can’t even have mercy for her own boyfriend…”

"Life has no mercy! I'm not supplying any shortcuts!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back at school now, so please be patient if updates aren't consistent anymore. university sucks basically  
> thanks for reading !!
> 
> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twit)  
> vodkakun (tumblr) (new url!)


	23. A Study in Snow Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midtown High School has their first snow day of the year, and Tony's ready to spend it with Steve...and Bruce and Darcy, apparently. Meanwhile, tension's brewing between Patsy and Bobbi, and Wade and Peter somehow end up in the middle.

Tony was awoken early on Tuesday morning by a howling wind berating against his window. He wiped a hand over his face, taking a glob of drool with him on his palm. He looked down at his pillow, his phone screen dark. His eyebrows furrowed, pressing the home button. He didn’t usually fall asleep with his phone next to him like this.

Then he saw Steve’s picture and ‘7:13:14’ next to it.

Oh yeah. He fell asleep on the phone with Steve. Tony wondered why he was even surprised, this has happened before. Like, plenty of times. They were both used to it at this point. Well, Steve was used to it, since Tony was always the one falling asleep on him.

He smiled, holding the phone up to his ear.

“Steve?”

There was silence from the other end. He was either on his morning run, or sleeping, which was rare—

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Tony sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. “Morning.”

“Morning, sunshine.”

“What time is it?” Tony yawned.

“Close to 9:30.”

Tony’s eyes snapped open, swinging his feet off the bed. “Shouldn’t we be in school…? More accurately, like, second period?”

“Did your parents not tell you?” Steve said slowly. “Snow day.”

Tony blinked. “…Snow day?”

“Snow day.”

Tony was already up and out of bed, heading downstairs with the mission of obtaining food. “If we didn’t stay in the phone all night, I probably would’ve never known there was a snow day.”

“Where would you be without me?”

“In a hospital, probably.” He stood in his kitchen, mildly taken aback by how quiet the house was. His mother would usually be on the couch watching daytime television, on the phone with other PTA moms. Or Grandma. Oh God, Grandma.

There was nothing coming from the basement either, where his dad would be on the phone with other businessmen and tinkering with old car parts trying to make something better until the sun set. So, Tony came to the conclusion that he was home alone. Great. Awesome, actually.

A smirk etched on his face. “Come over.”

Steve, who was in the middle of talking about how happy he was to have an extra day to work on his History project, stopped abruptly, and breathed out a humorous huff. “First of all, it’s rude to interrupt, Tony.”

“I’m not too keen on rules. You know that.”

“Second, what?”

“My parents aren’t here, and I’m lonely.”

“Since you just woke up, you haven’t had the chance to see how deep the snow is. It’s ridiculous, I’m not just gonna—”

“I’ll make hot chocolate.” Tony said in a sing-song voice.

Steve paused. “…Well…”

“Come by in an hour. Please?”

He heard a sigh, and he could almost see Steve running a hand through his hair, which is exactly what he did when he was giving in to doing something. “Fine. I’ll come over. I’ll see you at noon.”

“Noon? That’s in like, three hours!”

“Have my hot chocolate ready.” And with that, Steve had hung up on him.

Tony looked at his phone, shaking his head. “I’m rubbing off on him. That was my worst fear.” He paused. "Come to think of it, I'm rubbing off on everybody. I'm still talking to myself..."

After making breakfast (thankfully without burning the house down), he took a shower and attempted to clean himself up, even though Steve told him he didn’t have to go through the trouble to spruce up for him, and went on about some shit about ‘liking him just as he is’, or whatever. That wasn’t the point. He was cleaning up. Fuck what Steve was inevitably going to say when he got to his house.

The doorbell rang while Tony was in the middle of finding a clean shirt, which was a harder feat then he thought it would be. He snatched up a white shirt from the ground, throwing it on and examining it in the mirror in his room. “Fuck.” He said under his breath. This was Steve’s football shirt. How fucking gross and couple- could this get? He didn’t have time to change, though, because the doorbell was ringing again, and Jesus, Steve was really impatient today.

Tony ran down the stairs, skidding to a halt in front of the door, taking a deep breath. He swung it open, the cold wind blowing into his house.

“I see you came early—” He stopped.

“Bruce? Darcy? What the fuck?”

Bruce and Darcy, as he said, stood before him, both bundled up in puffy jackets and other miscellaneous winter wear. Bruce waved, pushing his way into the house, Darcy following him. Tony shut the door, turning around as the two tore off their scarves and hats.

“What are you doing here?” He asked. “You guys don’t even live this way!”

“My car got stuck a block behind your house.” Bruce explained.

“We were going to visit my mom,” Darcy continued, “She lives in the next town over. This is the only day she has off so she could meet Bruce, and of course, it’s the day after we get hit with a snowstorm.”

Bruce nodded, looking at Tony and shrugging. “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this, but no one can dig us out until later tonight.” He paused. “Would it be a problem if we hung out here for a while?”

“Yeah. It’s a problem. Get out.”

“Oh, come on, Stark!” Darcy said, rolling her eyes. “What could you possibly have planned today? It’s a snow day!”

There was a knock on the door. Tony turned around, swinging the door open, Steve smiling at him.

“I came a little early. Hope that’s okay.”

“It’s preferred.” Tony leaned up, Steve meeting him halfway, kissing briefly before Steve walked into the house, noticing Bruce and Darcy and stopping in his tracks.

Tony shut the door, folding his arms. “To answer your question, Steve was my plan today.”

Steve blinked. “Hi. What…?”

“Car got stuck, can’t get it out until tonight, we need a place to chill until then.” Darcy summarized.

Steve nodded. “Got it. Cool.”

“See, Tony? Steve’s okay with it.”

Steve looked at Tony. “Did you try and shoo them away?”

“He did, Steve.” Darcy said, wiping the fake tears off her face. “He was so rude! He doesn’t care if we freeze out there…” She leaned against Bruce, who wrapped his arms around her. He looked at Tony, eyes narrowed and shaking his head. “What a monster…”

“Of course you guys can stay here. We wouldn’t put you out like that.”

“Steve, this isn’t even your house. I said no. So it’s a no. It was supposed to be just us today!”

“What’s the big deal?” Steve said, snaking an arm around Tony’s waist. “Besides, there’s other rooms in the house…”

“Ew, ew, oh my God, the last thing I need in my life is to hear these two fuck like rabbits.” Darcy sputtered, hands in the air and eyes wide.

“We’ll just go in the basement.” Bruce said, “Is that okay?”

Tony shrugged. “Whatever. Just don’t break anything.”

Bruce led Darcy to the basement door, who bolted down the stairs, still gagging. When the door closed, Tony and Steve looked at each other.

“See? Easy.”

Tony’s mouth fell, the corner of his mouth quirking into a smile. “You planned that?”

“It’s not very hard to get Darcy out of a room. I observe things.”

“So…we’re _not_ gonna…?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Hot chocolate first, talk later. By the way, your choice of shirt today...”

"Shut up."

XXXX

Wade didn’t plan on getting snowed in somewhere. Especially not snowed in at the fucking recreation center.

He had asked Pete to work out with him that morning after they got the call from the school, because he needed a workout buddy. Simple as that. Being at the gym alone isn’t a fun time, and Peter was willing, thankfully, because Wade didn’t want to try calling Pepper to go with him. Pepper early in the morning is not a fun time either.

After they had showered in the locker room (separate, which is something Wade has to include more frequently than he’d like to admit), they walked into the lobby, gym bags slung over their shoulders.

“Why do you have to make everything a race?” Peter said, still slightly out of breath. “I mean, yeah, we raced on the track, but, racing on who showers faster?”

“Life’s a competition, Pete!” Wade said, smacking his back. “Always gotta stay ahead of the other guy.” He started to slow his pace when he noticed the employees locking the doors. Peter seemed to notice, too.

“What’s going on?” He said slowly, fingers instinctively tightening on his gym bag. Wade’s eyes narrowed, walking to the doors with long strides.

“Hey!” He said, a female employee who looked no more than sixteen turned to him. “Why are you locking the doors?”

“A blizzard started about an hour ago, and the city’s not sending any plows out until tonight. We can’t let anyone drive in these conditions.” She said. “I’m really sorry.”

“So…we’re all snowed in here.”

She nodded. “That’s what it looks like. If you have any other questions, I can get a manager for you.”

“No, no, that’s fine.” Wade patted her shoulder. “Thanks a lot.”

She nodded again, Wade turning around and walking back to Peter. “We’re snowed in for a few hours.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “What?! But I need to finish my History project! It was due today! I can’t spend my snow day in the rec center!”

Wade shrugged. “It is what it is. Let’s find somewhere to chill.”

“Wilson!”

Wade and Peter turned around in the direction of the voice, Bobbi Morse walking towards them. Wade was a little confused, though. He hadn’t talked to Bobbi Morse until that party at Starling, and even then, he didn’t think they were actually friends after that. Still, he didn’t mind. Since they were going to be snowed in the building, it’s better to have more people to talk to than just Peter.

“Hey, Bobbi.” Peter said. “What brings you here?”

“Uh, she said ‘Wilson’, Pete.” Wade said, popping the collar of his jacket up. “What’s up?”

“I’m glad to see you guys. Did you hear that we’re snowed in?”

“Yeah, we were about to head to one of the lounges.”

“You can join us.” Peter added.

“I’d love to, thanks!” Bobbi said.

“Where’s the red head you’re always with?” Wade said bluntly. Peter hit him in the arm, giving him a look, and Wade was really familiar with that look, because it’s the ‘remember-your-filter-dickweed’ look.

“Patsy?” Bobbi’s face fell slightly, folding her arms and shifting her weight. “She’s showering.”

“We should wait for her.” Peter suggested.

She muttered something under her breath, the only word that could be heard was ‘Patsy’, which she said with mild disdain. She looked back up at Peter and Wade. “I’ll text her and tell her what lounge we’re in. That good?”

Wade shrugged, “Whatever works for you. Let’s rock ‘n’ roll.”

Bobbi walked on ahead, Peter resting his hand on Wade’s arm, who turned around and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. “You okay?”

“Did you hear what she said about Patsy…?”

“No. Why?”

Peter paused, shaking his head. “Never mind. Maybe I was just hearing things. Let’s go, my legs are starting to feel sore.”

“You should’ve paced yourself on the track, Pete.”

“You wanted to race! So we raced!”

“Peter? Wade?”

The two boys turned around, Patsy walking towards them from the girls’ locker room, her hair still wet from the shower.

“Patsy!” Wade said enthusiastically. “How’s it going, love?” Peter rolled his eyes, because Wade didn’t even know her name not even two minutes ago.

Patsy’s eyebrows shot up, folding her arms. “It’s going okay…It’d be better if we weren’t stuck here because of the snow.”

“Bobbi went on ahead to one of the lounges.” Peter explained, “We decided to wait for you.”

“But we—” Wade earned another slap on the shoulder. Right. Filter, dickweed.

Patsy nodded. “Thanks.” She sighed. “Bobbi’s not too happy with me.”

“What did you do?”

She waved her hand. “I’ll explain on the way. Take me to the lounge. I need to put my feet up.”

XXXX

When Darcy and Bruce decided to go to the basement, Tony thought they would’ve…y’know… _stayed in the basement_. But, that wasn’t the case. Which is what Tony should’ve expected.

He was with Steve in the living room, a movie playing on the TV, but he was kind of distracted, because Steve did that thing where he put his arm on the back of the couch (which Tony _loved_ to make fun of him for, and he did that very often), so what was Tony supposed to do? _Not_ cozy up next to him? Of course he was going to, it was totally necessary, and Steve basically initiated it, so it was his fault that he was so relaxed. Tony could feel his heartbeat against his shoulder and he closed his eyes every time his chest rose with an inhale, not to mention he was super warm and he was super fond of Steve’s habit of dotting Tony’s head with kisses at random moments, which he would never admit, because he knew Steve would tell Bucky about it, and he would _not_ let Bucky Barnes hold that over his head. He was just so comfortable, but then—

“Stark! We’re hungry!”

Tony let his head fall against Steve, his chest shaking with a laugh. “You better go handle it. Your house, remember?”

“I hate you.”

“Tony! Did you hear us?” Darcy was now in front of the couch next to the TV, a thick fleece blanket draped around her shoulders. Bruce appeared in front of the basement door, shutting it behind him.

“What am I supposed to do about it?” Tony said. “Order a pizza or something.”

“Bruce told me you can cook. I want you to cook for us.”

“When have I ever told you that I could cook?” Tony asked, his patience wearing thin.

“I might’ve mentioned it once or twice.” Steve admitted with a smile. Tony jerked his head around, looking up at Steve with narrowed eyes.

“What? You’re a great cook. Bruce, he made this baked ziti once that blew my mind—”

“Ziti?” Darcy said with genuine surprise. “What the fuck, Stark, you’re some kind of pasta aficionado?”

“What, I make ziti, and suddenly I’m a connoisseur?”

“He also makes a mean carbonara.” Steve added quickly.

Darcy clapped her hands. “Alright! It’s settled. You’re making us a pasta dinner.”

Tony groaned. “Okay, genius, how do you know I have all the ingredients to _make_ this pasta dinner?”

They were all silent for a moment, Tony folding his arms and smiling triumphantly. “Boom.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “There’s always pasta and spices in this house. Trust me.” He pushed himself off the couch, Tony slouching against the back of it. “I’ll show you where everything is.”

Darcy gave a whoop, taking Bruce’s hand and running off towards the kitchen, remembering halfway that she had never been to Tony’s house before and had no idea where the kitchen was, Bruce taking over for her. Steve looked at Tony, who was sitting on the couch, pouting. He extended his hand. “C’mon. Quit being a sourpuss. It’s pasta time.”

“I just wanted a day for ourselves.” Tony said quietly.

“We have one, though. We don’t have to be at school.”

“Yeah, technically, but like…I just wanted it to be the two of us.” He paused. “I spent a lot of time thinking about days like that, because I feel like I waited forever to actually tell you that I liked you. I gotta make up for that loss time somehow. We could’ve been making out in like, October. That calls for making out twice as much as I originally thought we would.”

Steve’s face softened, smiling at him. “I understand. I feel the same way.” He paused for a moment, eyes narrowed in thought before he cupped his hands around Tony’s face, which is basically Steve’s favorite way to start a kiss, and closed the gap between their faces. But, instead of the normal loving and slow kisses Tony had grown used to (in the most loving way possible), he was pushing Tony back on the couch with just his weight, and the second Tony felt tongue, he was alright with this, but then he felt Steve's knee press into his crotch and suddenly his short term memory was gone. He forgot about Bruce, Darcy, the snow, the fucking couch they were laying on. All of it.

He was just starting to slide his hands underneath Steve’s shirt, loving the sensation of his cold, hard skin underneath the pads of his fingers when Steve suddenly hoisted himself off of him, Tony’s hand reaching out and holding onto the hem of his shirt.

“You can’t just—why would you—” Tony sputtered, confused and slightly out of breath.

“I’m fulfilling your ‘twice as much’ quota.” Steve said with a smile. “But that’s just a preview.”

“What do you mean ‘preview’?!”

“If you get up and stop being whiny and hang out with your friends, you’ll get way, _way_ more than that. I promise.”

Tony stood up, folding his arms as he stood in front of Steve. “How _much_ more?”

“Darcy and Bruce won’t want to leave the basement when they hear us. That’s how much.”

“I’m sold, I am _so sold_ , oh my God. Start the stove.”

XXXX

When the four had made their way into one of the lounges of the rec center, Bobbi and Patsy were extremely distant from each other, figuratively and literally, which, from what Wade and Peter had seen at the Starling party, was completely out of character for them. They were always together, but today, they were on opposite sides of the couch, not even looking at each other. Wade and Peter were seated in front of them in easy chairs, both a little confused.

Patsy had explained to the both of them that Bobbi wasn’t fond of her choice of a date on the Saturday after Starling, and hadn’t talked to her since then. She said that she knew Bobbi didn’t like when things didn’t go her way and panicked for a little, but this was an unusually long phase of panicking.

“She went out with Clint.” Bobbi said bluntly.

“Okay. Cool. Pigeon Boy had a date, the kid needs more.”

“That’s not a good thing! She knows why she can’t!”

“Why can’t you?” Peter asked. Patsy stayed quiet, eyes on her phone screen as her fingers dawdled away.

Bobbi sighed. “I like Clint. I told her that I like Clint. Shit, I told _him_ that I liked him.”

“Still not seeing why you’re pissed off…Pete? You?”

“I think I get it. Did he like you?”

Bobbi paused. “…Well, no, he didn’t. But do you see how unfair this is?” She scoffed, folding her arms and looking away from Wade and Peter.

“What isn’t fair?” Patsy said suddenly. “That the guy who doesn’t like you likes me?”

Bobbi narrowed her eyes at her. “You can’t even respect me as your _friend_ and do the right thing—”

“And the right thing is what, exactly? Sacrificing an opportunity I wanted to take just for your happiness? That’s so selfish, Bob, and you _know_ that!”

“You don’t even like him, you just did this to spite me.”

“Why would I do that!? What do I gain from doing that!? Why would I want to spite my best friend over some guy? Have you thought that maybe, just _maybe_ I might like him too?”

“You’ve never even talked to him!”

“Why does this bother you so much? You were flirting with Miguel like crazy on Friday! He gave you his number! Why can’t you just move on?”

“Quit being a shitty friend!”

“Quit being an egotistical maniac!”

They both turned back to face Wade and Peter, angry expressions shooting at them.

“ _Tell her she’s wrong!_ ” They both yelled in unison. Wade and Peter looked at each other, both realizing simultaneously that they just got involved in something that they immediately wanted to get out of.

The two girls continued to bicker, basically forgetting that there were two people sitting in front of them. Peter sighed, sitting up in his chair. “Guys.”

They kept on arguing, hands flying in the air as they somehow got louder. “Guys…” Peter repeated.

Wade unzipped his duffle bag, pulling out a basketball. He threw it, grazing Patsy’s head, both of them looking up at him.

“He was calling you.” Wade said. “Go ahead, Pete.”

“Thank you, Wade.” Peter cleared his throat. “You’re both wrong.”

“What do you—?”

“I’ve got a soccer ball in here ready to throw. Don’t push it.”

Peter continued. “Bobbi, you’re being selfish. You think that just because you liked Clint first, that means no one can date him. Clint rejected you. I don’t know if there was anything else to it, but he made his decision. He’s not interested. You have to accept that.”

He turned to Patsy. “Patsy, you’re being too closed off by not trying to understand why Bobbi’s bothered by this. Put yourself in her shoes. If your best friend started dating the person you were interested in, wouldn’t that bother you a little?”

The two were quiet, miraculously, but still refusing to look at one another. Peter shrugged, looking at Wade. “That’s all from me.”

Wade slapped Peter’s back. “You done good, kid.” He leaned down closer, “The real question is, will they listen to you?”

“I doubt it. Let's go play ping pong.”

"Woo! Ping pong!"

XXXX

Tony made pasta. Like, too much pasta.

Once he had taken his first batch of baked ziti out of the oven, Darcy’s face was full of awe and wonder like she was come kind of child, and it completely intensified once she took her first bite.

“Oh my God…”

“See? I told you.”

“Shut up, Steve.”

“Carbonara time.”

“Darcy, don't do this.”

“I know what I’m doing, Bruce! Start it!”

And Tony was tasked with making more food. So he did.

They had enough ingredients for two servings of ziti and carbonara, and they feasted like kings (and queen). Though Tony wished it could’ve just been him and Steve, he wasn’t totally against Bruce and Darcy being here anymore.

So now he was back to laying against Steve’s chest with a plate of carbonara in his lap and a movie running on the TV, with Bruce and Darcy on the loveseat adjacent to the couch with plates of pasta. Tony smiled, just as Steve did that thing where he kissed his head and pretended Tony didn’t notice, but he totally did.

“So, is this cooking thing something your friends don’t know about?” Darcy asked as she set her plate down on the coffee table. Tony shrugged, “I mean, no one really knows about it because no one has asked, Steve and Bruce have just been around when it happens. But, I’d prefer it if Natasha and Clint didn’t know. I don’t need them bugging me about it.”

“But if Clint tasted your ziti, he would shut up immediately.” Bruce said. Tony smirked, setting his fork down on his plate. “Maybe I should tell him, then. If Clint shuts up, that’s good for everybody.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my first week of classes ended today, and boy, am i pooped. trying my hardest to stay up to date with chapters and homework, i'm doing my best babes  
> thank you for reading :)
> 
> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


	24. A Study in Vanilla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha knows what she wants, and a new face solidifies her feelings. Tony gets too comfortable with his happy, simple life with Steve, and it's starting to freak him out.

The snow of late February had calmed in Midtown, New York, but their days of peace were short lived. They had been experiencing thunderstorms since Monday, washing over the hard snow with lightning ripping through the night sky. School had been delayed two hours the past three days just to get the flooding under control, and Thursday was their first full day of school that week.

Natasha walked into third period History, hair still a wet mess from her impromptu walk to school this morning. She was relying on Clint for a ride, but he happened to live on the other side of town, so when he called and said he couldn’t make it, she didn’t even think twice; she was walking. She refused to ask her dad to drive her. Asking Tony, who lived a block away, to give her a ride was out of the question, because Steve drove him, and the last thing she wanted to do was sit in the backseat and witness their lovey-dovey morning coos. When she saw them walking in the hallway to first period, she had already had her fill on couple-related things, and she still saw them throughout the day. But they weren’t the only couple in her life. She’d see Hank and Jan and feel her stomach churn, or Anna Marie and Remy, and that’s where she got an indescribable knot in her chest and had to storm away before her lungs tied together into a bow.

Maybe Natasha felt worse about them because she missed Bucky. Like, terribly. But she couldn’t tell anybody.

She was the one who broke up with him, so she could learn to be honest and open and love herself unconditionally. That had been going alright. She looked at herself in the mirror and didn’t feel small. She kept her head high and shoulders back, even when she felt like throwing on a hoodie and hiding inside of it for the day. Instead of telling herself in the back of her mind that something small was all her fault, she would say that it was just a mistake, and not to worry about it. She was learning to soothe herself. Her mom died when she was younger and couldn’t do it for her, and her dad stopped after she had turned twelve. She was on her own. And that was okay.

For the time being, that is.

“Do you know how Bucky’s doing?” Natasha asked Patsy when they walked out of Jan’s cheer practice yesterday. Patsy looked at her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Not really, no.” She paused. “Are you okay? You seem all jittery all of a sudden…”

“I’m okay.” She said quickly. “I’m just…I’m curious. Steve refuses to tell me. Bobbi doesn’t pay attention to details. You know.” I think about him constantly, she thought. I wonder if he misses me like I miss him.

“That’s the truest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m sure he’s okay, Nat.”

Natasha stuffed her hands into her pockets, shoulders tensing. “Is it…is it a good idea to get back together with Bucky?”

“Yes.” Patsy said with no hesitation, “Of course.”

“Why?” Natasha asked.

“You and Bucky just…work. It’s hard to explain.” They stopped at the front entrance of the school, the rain pounding on the asphalt of the parking lot. Patsy turned to look at her, a soft smile on her face. “You bring out the best in each other. You’re happier together. I notice things, Nat. You’re both kind of lost without each other.”

Natasha couldn’t help but return her smile, shoulders slouching. “But what do you think he’ll say if I ask him? He’ll probably think I’m playing with his feelings…”

Patsy rested her hand on her shoulder. “Remember what I asked you at Jan’s sleepover a while ago?”

She nodded. Patsy continued. “So…do you?”

Natasha nodded again. She took a deep breath. “Yeah. I love Bucky.”

“Then that’s more than enough for him. And for you.”

Patsy was right. Hopefully.

She slid into her seat in History as the rain pounded against the building. She was going to tell Bucky she loved him, even though it scared her to death. Yeah, she could admit to herself that she loved him, but she was still scared to be this raw and vulnerable. Natasha shut her eyes, resting her hands on her desk. She trusted Bucky. This was going to be okay.

Her desk nudged, her eyes snapping open and looking up. Matt Murdock had bumped into her desk as he made his way to his seat behind her, which wasn’t exactly a big deal, considering the fact that he’s blind. It just felt…kind of intentional.

“You don’t usually smell like wet dog, Natasha.”

Matt Murdock was someone in her History class that she tend to talk to the most, but they could never work on projects or group work together…for one big reason in particular.

She immediately whipped her head around, glaring at Matt, who was resting his white cane against his desk. “Excuse me?”

“Did you walk in the rain?”

“Why does that matter to you?”

“It doesn’t. I was just used to vanilla. New scents throw me off.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Vanilla?”

“You smell like vanilla.” He paused. “I’m sorry, is that weird?”

She blinked. “Kind of, yeah.”

“Matt’s just a weird dude.” Franklin Nelson, nicknamed ‘Foggy’ and Matt’s best friend sat at the desk next to him. “He’s like a hound dog.”

The big reason why Natasha could never work with Matt Murdock and actually become friends with him was because of his overbearing best friend Foggy. It’s like he could never let Matt have a conversation with anyone for more than five minutes without butting his head into it.

“Crying all the time?” Natasha said with a smile.

“Funny.”

“He’s got a good nose.” Foggy said. “But he can’t smell how bad his History grade is going to be if he doesn’t start studying.”

Natasha’s eyes lingered on the two for a second longer, Foggy and Matt diving into friendly banter, before turning back around in her seat.

“For the record, I like vanilla.” Matt said behind her during a brief lull in their conversation. She looked down at her hands on her desk. Vanilla. She’d never thought of that before.

XXXX

Tony had been domesticated. There. He said it.

He was sitting in the library for his free period, finally free from the clutches of student council. They kept him around for a while longer after choosing the prom theme, which is Under the Sea, much to Wade’s dismay. They reluctantly let him go, and now here he was. He had his phone under the table, texting Steve during his French class. Yeah, he _should_ just let him focus on his class, but they were helping each other make lists for what to bring to college.

“Tony. Tony!”

He looked up from his phone, which was basically in his crotch region, at Pepper Potts, who was looking at him and grinning.

“Wh—What?” He stared at her with wide eyes. “What I do?”

“You haven’t looked up from your phone for at least ten minutes. Maybe more.”

“Okay, so?”

Pepper chuckled, closing her textbook. “Steve Rogers has managed to tame you. I’m so impressed.”

“And what if I wasn’t texting Steve?”

“You don’t answer anyone else’s text messages as fast as you answer Steve’s. That’s not just a ‘me’ observation either. That’s, like, very well known.”

Tony huffed. “What do you mean ‘tame’ me?”

Pepper rested her elbows on the table. “At the beginning of the school year, you wouldn’t be caught dead sitting in a library texting anyone other than me or Rhodes. You would spend your free period gallivanting around and flirting with nearly every girl in a two mile radius, sometimes a dude, if he was up for that.” She smiled wider. “Domesticated. That’s the word. You are domesticated, and you love your little vanilla life with Steve.”

“Vanilla? What do you mean _vanilla_ , are you trying to say me and Rogers have boring sex? Let me tell you, Virginia—”

“I’m not talking about sex. Dear God, no. I’m talking about the simplicity of everything, _that_ vanilla. You used to come to me with new hook-up drama; who wouldn’t leave you alone, who was the best lay of the weekend. Everything is simple now. You have Steve, you have friends. And you _love it._ ”

“You say that like I didn’t have friends before Steve.”

“You did, of course. You just have a good group now. A big happy family.”

Tony looked down at his phone, his face softening as his thumb absently hit send. He was letting Pepper’s shpeel marinate, but then, he went pale.

“Oh, shit. Oh, _shit_.”

Pepper’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What? What happened?”

“Oh no, oh no, oh Dear God, no, what did I _do!?_ ”

“You better not be thinking of backing out of your relationship with Steve or I will _literally_ kill you.”

“No, no, it’s—fuck, Pep! I fucked up!”

“Just tell me what you did! Deep breaths, count to five, then to six—”

Tony took a deep breath. He looked up at her. “I just told Steve I loved him.”

Pepper blinked. “Okay. And?”

“It just slipped out! I was typing it out, and planning to erase it, but then you brought up that shit about ice cream and I wasn’t thinking and I sent it!”

“What exactly did you say?”

Tony unlocked his phone again, trying to keep it together and not throw up when he pulled up their chat conversation. “ _You’re lucky I love you or I would never let you get away with buying Little Mermaid blankets_.” He recited, his throat tightening.

Pepper was quiet for a moment. “You weren’t ready to tell him, were you? Wait, Steve was gonna buy Little Mermaid blankets?”

“No! Not at all! I didn’t plan on telling him because I knew it would’ve been too soon, and I don’t want him breaking up with me because he thinks of me as some kind of…relationship-rusher!” He ran a hand through his hair. “What if he thinks it’s because of the fact that he’s going away to Indiana!? Like, he thinks I’m rushing it because I know he’ll be leaving at the end of the summer?! Oh God, he’s gonna break up with me, Pepper!”

Pepper quickly reached across the table and took his hands. “Please remember your breathing, Tony.” She said in a gentle voice. “Count to ten—”

Tony ripped his hands out from under hers, running out of the library before his backpack was even on his back. Pepper pushed back her chair and shuffled after him, down the hallway, knowing he was running with the intentions of hiding.

She pulled out her phone as she left the library, Tony out of sight, looking down the hallways on either side of her. She tapped out a message, simply reading _Code Blue, West End_ and sending it before running down the hallway on her left. She just hoped they responded in enough time.

XXXX

With just her luck, Natasha’s history teacher assigned a small project due Monday.

Even better, she was assigned with work with Matt.

Which, of course, meant she was also working with Foggy. Even though he had a partner.

They were sitting in the hall while third period raged on, Natasha tapping away on a laptop while Matt sat next to her, staring ahead and drumming his fingers against his cane. Foggy sat next to Matt, dawdling on his own laptop. Not even next to his partner.

“What can you tell me about Japanese internment, Matt?” Natasha asked, not looking up from her screen.

“It was wrong.”

She turned to look at him, a smug little smile on his face. “Focus, Murdock. I wanna get as much done as possible.”

“We have until Monday to have it done. What’s the big deal?”

“I’m not wasting my weekend on a PowerPoint.”

“Neither is he.” Foggy chimed in. “You said you’d come with me to my admissions interview on Saturday, and you can’t be with her and with me at the same time.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Anyway. Japanese internment. The facts. Go.”

“1942-1946, upwards of 120,000 Japanese-American citizens forced into incarceration, two-thirds were legal citizens of the U.S.”

Natasha typed as he spoke, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Really glad you know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s Matt!” Foggy said, Natasha not even bothering to look up. He’d have to shut up eventually.

They stayed in the hallway working for a peaceful ten minutes, which consisted of throwing ideas back and forth of how the information should be ordered, Natasha describing the design layouts to him and her patience growing thin while he rejected every one. But, she had to admit. This wasn’t terrible. Matt was an alright guy, when they actually had a second to talk to each other when Foggy’s partner tore him away from Matt’s hip. He had a level of sarcasm that wasn’t biting, but it wasn’t weak, either. It was decent. Likeable. This was a change of scenery for her.

She thought about Bucky, though. She was going to see him sixth period and tell him, straight up and blunt, that she loved it. The thought has been rolling around in her brain for about two days now, and she could feel her fingers going numb because it was getting _so close_.

“What time is it?” Matt asked suddenly. She looked at him, then at the time on the laptop screen. “10:30.” She did a double take. “Holy shit, how do we have only five minutes left?”

“Are we close to being done?”

She sighed. “No. I guess we’ll have to do it on Friday…”

“No, no, you said you wanted to get it done today. When’s your free period?”

“Sixth.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the library at the beginning of sixth, and we can knock it out then.”

Her shoulders relaxed. Sixth period. She had something to do at sixth period now. She couldn’t tell him.

No, she thought immediately, tell him you can’t. Tell Matt that you have something to take care of, don’t put this off, don’t prolong this, you have to do it now, you have to do it _now_.

“Yeah.” She choked out, shutting the laptop. “That’s fine.”

She hoisted herself off the ground, taking Matt’s hand and steadying him upright. It’s fine, it’s okay. It was going to happen. Not today, though. Maybe that was a good thing.

XXXX

Bruce ran down the hall and turned right, heading towards the east end of the school, closest to the library. It was only third period, and there was a code blue? It never happened this early.

He saw Pepper’s heels set neatly next to the staircase, meaning her and Tony were probably sitting under there. He skidded to a halt, eyes meeting Tony’s as he stared at him in wide-eyed panic. He glanced at Pepper, who was sitting down next to him, patting his knee.

“What happened?” He asked simply, sitting down in front of them.

He had extensive training from Pepper on how to go about handling the situation of ‘Tony’s-having-a-panic-attack’ during the down time in second period English, but if he was being honest, he didn’t think he’d have to use the knowledge given to him this soon.

She said he was officially a big part of Tony’s life (which flattered him, but it turned him into a dopey puddle of friendship knowing that he meant something to someone who wasn’t Darcy and Darcy’s mom). She referred to it as ‘getting a L.O.A.N’.

“Loan?” Bruce asked. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a process you have to go through before you get a loan.” Pepper explained. “You have to come prepared for the worst, ready to negotiate, and a gentle voice. You’re nervous to get that loan, right? So you so remind yourself to breathe, but you also remember that sometimes the banker—in this case, Tony—has to breathe too, so you tell him the same. Keep each other on the same level.”

“How long have you had this all planned out?”

“Rhodey and I came up with it, ran it by Tony’s mom who approved of our tactics, and now, we spread the information to other people in his inner circle.” Her face softened. “We just want to make sure his friends are there for him, and it can be overwhelming for to see him like that. So, it’s better to have you prepared. Steve went through it, now it’s your turn. Are you up for it?”

Bruce nodded immediately. “Of course.”

She continued. “Good. Now, you’re ready to get that loan.” She flipped over the worksheet on Bruce’s desk, scrawling letters on it in purple pen.

“L. Listen. Once he’s breathing, just like you are, listen to what he has to say. Do not respond until he’s done, or else he’ll dive right into another panic attack.”

Listen, Bruce repeated in his head. He looked at Tony, seeing his breathing was steady. Alright. Pre-screening down.

“You can talk to me.”

Tony looked at him. “Bruce...” He paused. “I told Steve I love him, when I didn’t want to say it yet. I fucked up. I made things so awkward. He’s gonna dump me, I know it.”

“O. Observe. Watch his body language, especially his fingers. He balls his fists up when he’s about to dive into self-loathing, _which cannot happen at any cost_.”

Bruce glanced down at Tony’s hands, and sure enough, his fingers were curling into a ball. He quickly rested his hand on his fists. “That’s not gonna happen. Steve would never do that to you.

“A. Approach.” Pepper’s voice echoed in the back of his mind. “When he’s willing to talk, comfort him. He prefers a hand on the shoulder.”

Bruce scooted up next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Tony hunched over. “How do you know, though?”

“Okay, so what about N? What’s that one?”

“N. No more rules. Say what you think is right. It might not be what he wants to hear, but he needs honesty, and once he’s totally calm, he’ll appreciate it. You take control of the situation and give him what he deserves. Which is an honest friend.”

Bruce gave him a small smile. “I don’t. I don’t know for sure. But I know that you know Steve better than I do, better than Pepper does, better than any of us. You know that he’s not going to break up with you, but you’re scared and panicked and aren’t thinking clearly. That’s okay, though. It’s okay to be scared. But don’t ever doubt how much Steve cares for you and appreciates you, because something like this wouldn’t change that.”

Tony’s head snapped up at him. He sighed. “Alright, fine, you’re right. I’m…sorry.”

“You better be sorry, I was in the middle of a French exam.”

“Oh, okay, excuse _me_ for needing advice from my good friend Bruce!” Tony couldn’t help but start laughing. “Next time, I’ll just call Clint. Or Darcy! Yeah, I’ll ask Darcy!”

“You and I both know Darcy would be no help at all!”

Pepper sat off to the side, a grin etching on her face as she watched them share playful banter. She shook her head.

“He got the loan.”

XXXX

Natasha was officially over History class. Over History projects. And especially over Foggy Nelson.

She walked into the library during her free period, heart still heavy from when she walked past Bucky in the hall, and they made the briefest eye contact and she swore he noticed her eyes lit up, and his did too, and she was suddenly lightheaded. Not yet. Not now. Later.

Matt was standing outside the library with, of course, Foggy Nelson, who was holding one of the school issued laptops.

“Hi, Natasha.” Matt said. That would never cease to throw her off; he was blind, but it was still like he could see her. Whether it be walking into History, or walking even a foot away from his desk.

Anyway. History project.

“Hi.” She said. She nodded to Foggy. “You’re gonna be helping us?”

Foggy blinked. “I mean, if you need me to help, I will.”

Then why are you here? Natasha thought, quickly biting her tongue so it couldn’t slip out. “Let’s go.” She spat, pushing past him and holding open the door. For Matt. Just for Matt.

Everything was tolerable for about twenty minutes, and they were (thankfully) almost finished with the PowerPoint. Foggy remained in his own domain, much to Natasha’s delight. He occasionally poked his head in when they were chuckling about something, but it wasn’t enough for her to fight him. So, that was good.

“Do we just have to email it to her now?” Matt asked. Natasha nodded, stopping when she remembered. “Yeah. We should be good now. I’m glad you suggested we come in and finish it today.”

“Well, yeah. I wanted to keep your Friday free…maybe we can get food after school or something.”

Natasha’s face fell. “Is this just an excuse to smell me for a long period of time? Y’know, since you like vanilla so much.”

“Alright, you made it weird.”

“Sorry, Matt’s busy Friday.”

Thunder rumbled outside. Natasha’s exhaled sharply through her nose, shutting her eyes. She could hear Foggy scoot his chair closer to Matt.

“He clearly isn’t, since he just asked.”

“But—”

“Why don’t you let this kid breathe?” She blurted. Whoops. No turning back now. “You are so possessive.”

“Possessive? How am I possessive?”

She chuckled sarcastically. “Seriously? You don’t let him have other friends! He’s clearly trying to hang out with me, and you have to check up on him constantly and butt into everything!”

“What, is it that big of a deal that I care about him and want to spend time with him?”

“It’s—!”

She stopped. Butting in. Checking up. Shit. Who did that sound like?

Foggy was in the middle of fighting back when she jumped up from her seat and bolted out of the library. That’s what she had been doing to Bucky. And there it was.

That was all the proof she needed to know that she was 100% in love with Bucky Barnes, which is totally different from just saying you love someone. You can say you love a best friends, or your mom, or your dog, but when there’s an ‘ _in_ ’ in front of it, that changed _everything_. She had never in her life tried to check up on someone before she met Bucky, and she did that shit often because she _cared_ , she cared so much, she cared more about if he had a good breakfast that morning than how she was going to get to school. She was in love. She was _in there_ , living in it like she was paying mortgage on it.

The bell for the end of sixth period rang before she got to the gym, the hallways flooding. She stood in the middle of the rush of students, her heart pounding and she felt like her head was going to explode if she didn’t see him in two fucking seconds. She continued running to the gym, seeing it was filling with freshmen waiting for gym class to start. Shit.

Natasha remembered what class he was going to, which was Pre-Calculus, and she bolted up the closest set of stairs and noticed how thinned out the hallway was, hoping that he wasn’t in the classroom yet. She jogged down the hall and took a hard left, and there he was, about three feet in front of her.

She stopped, and so did he. She was panting, running her shaking hands over her thighs. They were both quiet, mostly because Natasha was trying to get the air back into her lungs.

“Hi.” He said simply. She swallowed hard, completely forgetting how to talk, because she was so scared and he was so _close_ , and this was happening. She couldn’t turn back now.

“I’m sorry.” She blurted. Bucky looked at her, his face washing in confusion. Nice going, genius. Great start.

“…For what?” He asked slowly, a cautious smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Natasha opened her mouth to speak, promptly closing it, opening it again, and then biting her lip. She was not prepared for this at all.

“You okay?” Bucky asked.

“I can’t—words aren’t coming to me right now—”

“Take your time.”

She looked him in the eyes, and all her common sense and what was left of her composure flew out the window. She let out a defeated sigh, closing the gap between them in one long stride, resting her hand on his neck, and pulling his face down to meet hers for a confused and panicked kiss.

“I love you.” She said after pulling away from his lips before her brain tried to make her think and plan and form a sentence because _fuck that_ at this point, and he stood there, still confused, but looking at her with wide eyes. “I miss you. I’m _in love_ with you.”

Bucky didn’t say anything. He just pulled her into another kiss, and she was okay. But now she was okay, _and_ Bucky had his arms around her. Which meant she was double okay.

XXXX

Tony walked into the library after school, head pounding. Maybe it was from the Chemistry test he just took, or the fact that his locker got jammed when he had to get his Health essay out of it, and he was already late as is, so Clint had a field day when he finally got to class fifteen minutes late.

He also told Steve he loved him. Yeah, that was probably it. The worst part about it was that he meant it, too. It wasn’t some kind of accident. It naturally flowed from his brain to his fingers to the text message, and that was kind of jarring all on its own. It was instinctive. This was weird.

He sat down in his usual seat, setting his backpack on the table. He just had to remember what Bruce told him; Steve cares about him too much to not be with him because of something like this. Amazingly, though, it was starting to not bother Tony as much the more he thought about it. Yeah, he still had a headache, though. Maybe it _was_ the locker ordeal…

He looked up, Steve approaching the table. They made eye contact, both silent.

“I love you, too.” Steve said, pulling out his chair.

Tony blinked. “What?”

“You said you love me.”

“…That…you don’t have to say it if you aren’t ready, Steve.”

Steve smiled. “I’ve been ready for a while now.”

“Cap the romance jelly, there’s other people here now.” Clint announced, walking alongside Thor and Bruce. Natasha followed soon after, a smile on her face. They all looked at each other, just as lightening lit up the sky.

“So…how was everyone’s day? Clint asked.

“Guys, what do I smell like?”

“Alright, Natasha’s just gonna make shit weird.”

“Salt.”

“That was way too quick, Tony.”

“What? She asked!”

“I think you smell of lavender, Lady Romanoff.”

“How did we get salt and lavender?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ the ppl freaking out in the comments  
> find your center n chill. buckynat was comin back and they always were. the tag stayed. which meant they were gonna be a couple. y'all are no fun !  
> anyway. thanks for reading lmao
> 
> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


	25. A Study in Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Darcy have their plan for the future set, but they get hit with a curveball. Natasha has an argument with her father, and reluctantly goes to an outside source for advice.

Bruce was pretty happy, to be honest. Everything was going pretty well for him lately.

He didn’t lose his friends after the Chemistry midterm. In fact, they got _closer_ , which was strange, but he was definitely not complaining. His grades were good; stagnant, for the most part, but good, which was fine, because he didn’t want D-NY to rethink his admission.

Speaking of D-NY, his admissions letter finally came. He saw it Thursday afternoon, the first Thursday of March, after their study session (they still liked the sentiment of a ‘study session’, so the name stayed) when he tiredly snapped open his mailbox in the musty mailroom of the apartment complex, sifting through bills and junk mail and absently greeting the kids playing on the staircase as he made it up to the third floor. He got stopped in the hallway by his neighbor Rita, a heavyset mother of two, a year and three years younger than he, respectively (Bruce was her unofficial third, as often as she babysat him when he was younger while his father worked the night shift), who always gave him an invitation for dinner, which he happily accepted most days, and when he couldn’t, there would be a pot of stew or gumbo right outside his door.

He slammed the front door behind him, his admissions letter at the bottom of the pile, staring him right in the face. His dad wasn’t home, which was partially a good thing, because if he _did_ get in, his dad would be way more excited about it than Bruce was, and he could guarantee that.

Bruce set the stack of mail on the small table next to the door, tossing his keys on top of it. He ripped the envelope open, not even taking off his coat and definitely not trying to be graceful about it, and unfolded the folded stack of paper, letting the massacred envelope fall to the ground. His eyes scanned the letter quickly, a grin spreading across his face.

“I got in.” He exhaled to himself. He _had_ to tell Darcy, but she even wasn’t home, and wouldn’t be until that night.

He and Darcy had been together for four months as of Monday, and tonight was the only night they could really hang out and celebrate; she worked many late nights at a bookstore three blocks from their complex, and Bruce had picked up more tutoring clients for the second semester, so they were both fairly busy. But, they had tonight. And he was gonna tell her in person.

Bruce walked over to his couch, flopping onto it with the acceptance letter still in his hand. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fall now; shopping lists, what hall he was going to live in, what kind of classes he was going to take. He was also super excited to be going to the same school as Darcy.

He and Darcy had talked about D-NY before, once they had started dating. They had both applied to other schools, and decided that they were going to stay together no matter where they went, but…yeah, they were both dead-set on going to D-NY together.

He knew Darcy got in. Oh, of _course_ she did. He read her admissions essay, her grades were good enough; they couldn’t turn her away! They basically needed her. They needed both of them there, basically. Not to toot his own horn—or, in this case, _their_ horns.

His phone buzzed against his thigh, fishing it out of his pocket. It was a text from Tony, which was pretty rare. Tony was the only person he actually preferred to talk on the phone with and not text, because he had a habit of sending him short and quick text messages with little to no context in them (a famous one was ‘ _Bruce. Homecoming. Shafer St. Darcy? Tony_ ’. He refused to even try and decode it and called him immediately).

Thankfully, this message wasn’t cryptic, and Bruce kind of had Steve to thank for that, since Steve taught Tony how to text properly and in full sentences (which Tony hated admitting that Steve had to teach him something involving technology, since the guy had absolutely no idea how to even turn on an Xbox).

 _Was the letter there?_ It read. Bruce smiled, putting the letter on his chest and holding his phone over his face, typing out a response.

_Yeah. I got in._

Tony responded about a minute later. _I mean, of course, we all knew that would happen. Congratulations. What about Darcy?_

_Hey, thanks. She won’t be back from work until later. I’ll find out then._

_Are the odds looking good 4 her? No offense._

_None taken. Yeah, her application was solid._

_You nervous to go to college w/ your girlfriend? She’s gonna have guys crawling all over her there._

Bruce paused before typing. He wasn’t going to lie; that thought did cross his mind a lot more often than he’d like to admit. Yeah, Darcy’s super attractive, of _course_ people are gonna flirt with her down there. That happens now, but it’ll be full force once they get on a campus full of people just their age and maybe a few years older. It did make him nervous.

He trusted her, though, and knew she could handle herself. She usually did squash the situation quickly. If he _did_ have to get involved, though, Thor and Steve were super interested in teaching him self-defense. That could come in handy.

He typed out a response. _No, we’ll be okay. I trust her. We’re gonna have a good time. You’re not nervous to be super far from Steve?_

_Of course I am! Have you seen Steve!? I’m gonna have to go down there like, every weekend just to fend everyone off of him._

He chuckled. He meant that, too; he trusted Darcy greatly. Just as he was putting his phone back in his pocket, another text came, this one from Darcy.

_Remember how I said 6? Looks like 8:30 instead. :( I’m the worst!!_

He smiled. _You aren’t the worst! You’re gonna have a great paycheck to look forward to. I’ll still be around at 8:30, don’t worry :) I’ll have dinner ready by then._

_You’re so cute!! I’ll see you then. Love you!_

_Love you too._

He sighed, picking up the acceptance letter off his chest. The future was looking pretty bright. But, currently, the lightbulb in his head wasn’t bright, because he had _no idea_ what to make for dinner. Maybe his dad still had cookbooks hidden in his room somewhere. Yeah, he knew about his dad’s cooking phase. He couldn’t forget it. That was the most he ever ate dinner at Rita’s place.

XXXX

There were rare times in the day when Natasha and her father were in the house at the same time: in the kitchen at breakfast, and in the living room at dinner, and Thursday at dinner was the first time she’d seen him since Monday morning.

They were sitting at the table, another commodity, eating in silence, for the most part. There was the occasional conversation about grades, or about work. She was glad he was here, though, because they had to talk about college.

They had a brief discussion about it in the fall, which ended with him damning the idea of Natasha wanting to go school, ruling it out of the question, and that she would stay home, and start a career.

Her father was a well-respected businessman on an international level, beginning his career in Moscow, and expanding it when he and her mother moved to the US when Natasha was three. He was invested in his role as a CEO, but her mother kept him grounded, reminding him of the family he had, and his responsibilities as a father.

She passed away when Natasha was nine, though, so he didn’t have that tether anymore. After three years of trying to hold it together and be the father his wife wanted him to be, Natasha was put second, and devoted his life to the business, put up walls and kept his relationship with his daughter a casual and formal one.

Natasha knew it was his way of coping with loss; working so much that he didn’t have time to grieve. So, at twelve years old and onward, she was on her own, except for the occasional advice and affection from neighbors. She was used to this, though. She wanted her dad to be alright, and if that meant stepping aside, then she’d do it.

It’s not like she was intimidated by her father; she had too many silly memories of him to be scared of him. He was blunt and stubborn, and he was the last person she wanted to argue with, so she would just accept his short answers and leave it alone.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Natasha said, dropping her fork on her plate.

“About what?” Her father replied in low, rumbling Russian.

“College.” She said, changing from English to Russian. “I have to make a decision soon.”

“I thought we already talked about this.” He took a sip of water, looking at her over the glass. “You will work after graduation with me.”

“That isn’t the plan for me. I want to go.”

He was in the middle of picking up his fork, stopping and letting it fall onto the plate, folding his hands together on the table. He stared at her hard. “Why?”

Natasha paused, swallowing hard. “I want to continue learning. I think it would be beneficial if I went. I can get a job easier with a degree, and…I don’t want to work in business.”

“Business is in the family. You are my successor. We’ve talked about this since you were young. You’re not going.”

“It’s not like money is an issue.” She bit out. “We have plenty of money. Crest University is offering me a lot of support, too. What is the problem?”

“You have a responsibility to the family. Your uncle works for the company, your aunt works for the company, and so will you.”

“I have a responsibility to myself. I’m not going to work in business when it’s not even something I’m interested in.”

“Drop this, Natalia.”

She tensed. She hated it when he used her legal name. “I’m not going to drop it.” She said, sitting up in her chair. “I’m going to school. I need you to support me on this.”

“I’m not going to.”

“Why not!?”

“You’re not going, Natalia!” He shouted. “You’re not going that far. You’re not leaving. You’re staying here, and you’re going to make a name for yourself, just like I did. You can’t do that in school. You have to start early. I’m helping you!”

“You’re not helping me! You’re holding me back!” She yelled back in English.

They were both quiet, staring at each other from across the table. Natasha wiped her mouth with her napkin, pushing her chair out and standing up.

“You’re not excused.” Her father said. She looked back at him, inhaling through her nose.

“Mom would let me decide for myself.” She said simply, walking to the front door, snatching her coat off the hook on the door, and her boots on the ground, and stepping outside with a hard slam of the door, locking it and stuffing her key into her jean pocket.

She was partially waiting for him to swing the door open and grab her by her shoulders and yell at her, tell her to not bring up her mother like that, how her mother wasn’t some kind of flag to throw on the field when something wasn’t going her way, but also partially aware that he wouldn’t. He knew she was right this time, because that was her mother’s philosophy. Natalia can think for herself Nikolay, Natasha remembered hearing her mother say when she was eight and was hell-bent on a Dungeons & Dragons themed birthday party. She knows what she wants, and she won’t budge, she’s just like you.

Once Natasha had forced her boots on and zipped her coat, she was walking. This was the most intense interaction she had had with her dad in a long time. He only called her ‘Natalia’ when he was sick of it, which is usually when Natasha would shut her mouth and drop it. But this wasn’t something she could simply let go. She had a plan for the future, and she was damn well going to pursue it.

But…he said she wasn’t allowed to go ‘that far’. That she was staying here. Could it be that he was scared to let her go? Her shoulders relaxed as she stomped through a puddle of slush on the sidewalk. She never really thought about how her going to Maine would affect her father. He was very keen on never letting his emotions show, and when it slipped out, it was easy to miss. And she did miss it.

Now she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to go to university, specifically Crest, but now she was skeptical about leaving her father behind. He didn’t have mom around. His siblings were just as devoted to the business as he was. Natasha always assumed he wouldn’t care if she left.

Maybe the business wasn’t first. Maybe Natasha had always been number one, and he just had a weird way of showing it.

She needed a second opinion now. She could call Bucky, but she didn’t want to throw this at him. He was worrying about university too, since he was just now applying for some. She’d tell him later.

She could call Clint, but he was probably at work. Ever since he decided to go to Southern Vermont, he had been picking up a lot of hours at the grocery store near his house. She knew why he had to, though, so she decided it’d be better if she just didn’t call; he was either at work, or exhausted _from_ work.

Bobbi or Jan would take the situation overboard. Anna Marie was terrible at advice, especially if it wasn’t love advice. Patsy had had enough of her during the whole Bucky ordeal…

She stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes and sighing. She knew _exactly_ who to talk to about this. She wasn’t super fond of the idea, but hey, he lived close enough. She could blame it on convenience if he asked why she was on his doorstep.

She walked a little further down the street until a right turn came up, hitting the corner and walking ahead. This was going to be weird. But she knew he could help.

XXXX

Bruce looked up at the sound of the door knocking, just as he was pouring pasta into a ceramic bowl. He made the decision to pass on the cookbooks and just make what he knew best; which was buttered noodles and garlic bread. It _did_ have sentimental value; Darcy made it on the night he first said ‘I love you’. He knew it was cheesy (so cheesy that even Darcy would make fun of it), but he was way too proud of himself for not setting anything on fire (which has happened).

He swung open the door, Darcy barging in with a dramatic sigh. She kicked off her boots and fell onto the couch, letting her purse fall to the ground.

“Welcome home.” Bruce said, leaning against the back of the couch, looking down at Darcy with a smile. “How was work?”

Darcy opened her eyes slowly, pouting. “Everybody and their mom wanted books today. It’s not even textbook season. We had to reshelf all the _Fifty Shades of Gray_ books twice, that’s how fast they were flying out tonight!” She sighed again. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t worry about it. Dinner’s ready, you made it back in enough time for the House Hunters marathon, it’ll be great.”

She smiled, then she jumped up. “Oh! I got my admissions letter!”

Bruce walked around the couch—he would’ve just jumped, but the last time that happened, he rolled his ankle, and Darcy wouldn’t stop laughing for at least an hour—and sat down next to her, hoping she didn’t see his hands shaking with excitement. She was digging around in her purse when he draped his arm behind her, and she sat up victoriously with the envelope in her hand. She turned to look at Bruce, expression uneasy.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m nervous.”

“You’ve got nothing to be nervous about. They’d be insane not to accept you.” He paused, taking her hand. “No matter what that letter says, I’m still proud of you.”

She smiled, taking a deep breath and tearing it open, unfolding the letter while her eyes frantically scanned it, but Bruce saw it first, and his heart sank. It was blaring at him like a siren. _Denied admission_.

Darcy’s hands fell back on her lap, looking forward, her face in shambles. Bruce clutched her shoulder, pulling her against him.

“I…didn’t get in.”

“It’s okay. You tried, that’s all that matters.”

“But…my essay…”

“Your essay was fine. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Who else can I blame?” She stood in front of him, arms to her sides. “I can’t blame the university for not accepting me. I just wasn’t good enough.”

“Of course you’re good enough.” Bruce argued.

“I’m not you, Bruce. I’m not a genius. I’m just average, and clearly, D-NY isn’t looking for average.” She shook her head. “We had a plan! We had everything laid out. I was so excited. We’d go together, and it would’ve been home. _Our_ home.” She stormed off into the kitchen, Bruce staying put on the couch.

He couldn’t reason with her at the moment. He’d let her cool off by herself for a minute, then he’d talk to her. When Darcy was ticked off, it was best to leave her be until she can think clearly again.

Bruce was bummed, too. They had been talking about their plan for almost a month now. They’d go to the same school together, they’d motivate each other to stay on top of their schoolwork (“Also, make sure I don’t become a caffeine addict. I saw the curriculum for political science majors; it’s basically asking me to pull all-nighters.”). They made shopping lists for their dorms, researched on-campus jobs. They had a plan, a good plan. They were going to make D-NY home.

To Bruce, though, home is wherever she is. Now, D-NY wouldn’t feel like home, since she wouldn’t be there. He pushed himself off the couch, walking to the kitchen, where Darcy sat at the table, reading over the letter once again. He sat down across from her, gently taking the letter from her hand and tossing it onto the ground. He took her hand, Darcy instinctively lacing her fingers around his.

“We’ll make a new plan.” He said simply. “Screw them.”

“Bruce, I don’t want you to not go just because I can’t.”

“We don’t have to go to the same school to make our own home.”

“That…doesn’t make any sense, babe.”

“Hear me out. Anywhere you are, that’s home for me—”

“God, that’s so corny…”

“—If you’re here in the complex, that’s home. If you’re at school, that feels like home, too. Heck, you could be across the country and it’d still feel at home.” He offered her a small smile. “Sure, D-NY will suck without you there, but we haven’t lost out on making a new home. We’ll just make a new plan.”

Darcy was quiet, but then she stood up and walked around to Bruce’s side of the table, where she cupped her hands around his face and gave him a tender kiss.

“You’re too good for me.” She said, patting his cheek fondly.

“I know.”

XXXX

Tony and Natasha lived within a two minute walk from each other. Nobody they were friends with knew about that. Well, Steve probably did, but that was about it.

They were actually childhood friends, as hard as it is to believe.

Natasha spent many summers in elementary school in Tony Stark’s backyard, where her parents and his parents would watch them run around the yard with bubbles and hula hoops until the evening and they were too tired to even sit up.

As they got older, their interests started to evolve and grow, and they would spend their time with other people. They really only spoke if they saw the other on their bikes, or at the bus stop in the early mornings of high school.

She cherished those days, though. She was carefree and full of life, her father was swelled up with love, and her mother was there. Tony and his parents were the only people outside of her family that knew what her dad was like before her mother passed away.

So, she and him had an unspoken trust. And tonight was one of those days to test that trust.

She knocked on his door, taking a step back and hoping to _God_ that Steve wasn’t there. Natasha loved Steve like a dopey younger brother, but it was painful enough to seek out Tony Stark for advice, and she didn’t need both of them there. She didn’t want to be too vulnerable.

The door swung open, and it wasn’t Tony in front of her. Or his mom. Or his dad. Or Steve, thankfully.

“Natasha?” Pepper said, a jug of ice cream tucked under her arm. “What’re you doing here?”

Okay. Pepper was there. That was a bit better than Steve. At least with Pepper, she could open up, and Pepper would let it leave her memory in two, three days tops. Steve would check on her constantly about it, like when Clint opened up to him, Natasha, and Thor one weekend at the bowling alley about his dad and his brother, something Natasha already knew about and knew how to handle the topic, but Steve was a worried mess for the rest of the night. And the week.

Tony peeked out from behind Pepper. “Hey. Why…?”

“I need advice. It’s about…” She nodded in the direction of her house. “My dad.”

Tony motioned her inside, not asking any questions and slamming the door behind them. He led her into the kitchen, kind of a mess, but it wasn’t her business to ask. She was here for one reason.

“We decided to make pizzas instead of ordering them.” Pepper explained. Natasha guessed she had seen the curiosity in her face. “It actually went well, which isn’t what the kitchen is implying.”

She sat on one of the stools at the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, Tony sitting across from her. She glanced at him, and Pepper, who was leaning against the counter behind him.

“What’s going on?” Tony asked. He seemed a little more serious than Natasha expected him to be; but he knew what kind of person her father was now. So, he had reason to.

She sighed, resting her arms on the countertop. “We got into a fight tonight, about college. He still doesn’t think I should go to Crest—”

“Wait, you got into Crest?”

Natasha nodded, Pepper folding her arms and nodding in approval. “Impressive. You have to go.”

“That’s what I want to do, but my dad doesn’t see college as something that’s necessary. He started up a business with knowledge he gained by reading a ton of books and asking a lot of questions, and now he makes a six figure salary and wants me to follow in his footsteps.” She took a breath, trying to ignore Pepper and Tony’s faces when they heard ‘six figures’. “He wants me to take over the company for him someday, and whatever idea I have that isn’t _that_ , is out of the question. When I mentioned Crest tonight, though, he said he doesn’t want me to go ‘that far’, so it sounds like he just doesn’t want me to be far away from him. Which I understand. Mom is gone, his siblings don’t pay much attention to him unless it’s about work.” She looked at Pepper. “My mom died when I was nine.”

“Six figure salary, though…” Tony said, waggling his eyebrows at Natasha, who couldn’t help but smile. “This is serious, Stark. Should I keep pushing for Crest, or should I stay here with him? I don’t want him to be alone…”

Tony and Pepper were quiet, mulling over the situation. Natasha shifted awkwardly in her chair, slightly uncomfortable with the fact that Pepper Potts now knows too much about her.

Pepper spoke first. “What do you want to pursue at school?”

“Linguistics.” She said quietly. “I want to study language. It’s the only field in science that actually interests me. Business is…gross. I don’t want to be a businesswoman. I’m not my father.”

“Go to Crest.” Tony said. “An education is something that’s valuable to you, so it’ll benefit you in the long run, and you’ll hopefully be in a field you’re actually interested in.” He paused. “Or…you could stay home. You said it yourself, your dad makes six figures. That’s a good job. You’re guaranteed to be well off in the end…but it doesn’t sound like you want ‘well off’. You want to do something you enjoy.”

“There’s benefits of both.” Pepper added. “But, do you want to leave your dad?”

Natasha thought about it. “I did. I thought…I thought he didn’t want me around, for a while. I thought, oh, he has the business. If I went away to school, nothing would change. He would just work _more_. But…he said he didn’t want me to go far. It was subtle, but it’s powerful.”

Pepper and Tony looked at each other, then back at Natasha. “Do what feels right for you.” Tony said. “Like, yeah, your dad wants you to stay, but if your heart says ‘fuck that’, then go to Crest. We _really_ can’t help you decide on this one. But, whatever decision you _do_ make, it’ll be the right one.”

Natasha let her head fall on the table. “This sucks.”

Pepper pushed herself off the counter. “You know what doesn’t suck? Ice cream. Do you want to join us for ice cream and TLC reality shows?”

“Pep! That’s _our_ thin—ouch!”

Natasha looked up, Tony rubbing his arm and Pepper looking quite proud of herself. She let her shoulders relax. She’ll think about this more tomorrow.

“Yeah. Okay.”

For now, she’ll just enjoy the ice cream.

XXXX

“Starling is how far from D-NY again?”

“About an hour.”

“You’ll have no excuse to not visit me, right?”

“Right.”

Bruce sat on one end of the couch, Darcy at the other, with her legs propped up on Bruce’s knees. After a good two hours of tossing ideas around, Darcy decided to confirm her admission to Starling College, which was the first college to accept her. It was small, and it wasn’t D-NY, but it was still a good fit for her.

“Bruce.”

“Yeah?”

Darcy paused, toes curling against the arm of the couch. “What did you mean when you said home is wherever I am?”

Bruce’s face heated up as he ran a hand through his hair. “I, uh…It…It means that home is where the heart is…and I love you, so…my heart…is…?”

“Shut up.” Darcy was grinning. “Are you about to tell me I have your heart?”

“Uh…”

“Oh my god! Stop!” She leapt up from her seat, wrapping her arms around Bruce’s neck and kissing him with all the love in her body.

She had borrowed Bruce’s laptop to accept her admission. It sat on the ground, untouched, but her shopping list stayed lit on the screen. The first bullet point under the header, _Darcy’s Going to Starling_ , was an air mattress, and in parentheses next to it, ‘in case Bruce gets sick of me pushing him off the bed’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. when i started to write this again (i started up working on this fic again in may, which began with chapter 6), i usually just put out 2.4k words a chapter. now here i am. 4 months later. i can barely keep it under 5k. look at that!!!!!  
> thanks for reading!! we're getting warmer now...
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


	26. A Study in Thor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The history of Thor Odinson finally comes to light of the study group. Too bad it's a pretty inconvenient time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heads up! chapter contains flashbacks, indicated by asterisks (*) in the beginning. the end of the flashback is indicated by X's  
> 

The sun was shining on Tuesday, after what felt like an eternity of grey clouds, fat snow mounds, thunderstorms (never forget the random spout of thunderstorms), and cold so intense it froze the hairs on your neck.

But finally, _finally_ , the sun was out. And it was warm. It brought the whole student body of Midtown High School back to life.

Clint was walking to the library with Thor, which was a recurring thing lately. Thor had History at seventh period, which was right down the hall from Coulson’s Chemistry class, so when the bell rang, they would walk out to the parking lot together. Which was kind of weird.

Ever since Thor enlightened him about Patsy, Clint had been kind of…drawn to him. He didn’t really understand it. He was really easy to talk to about basically anything.

Thor kind of radiated innocence and warmth, so it’s not like he didn’t _understand_ it, because of course people are going to gravitate to someone as warm and boisterous as Thor. He just…didn’t understand how someone could be so full of life and warmth at this age. Ask any senior in high school, they will tell you: ‘life is hard’, ‘I’m so stressed out’. Thor never complained about any of that. He just listened to it. Which blew Clint’s mind; who could sit there and listen to all that garbage?

Then Clint remembered, oh shit, _I_ do that to Thor. Anyway.

He didn’t really _know_ Thor. Maybe there was some underlying factor as to why he was so helpful and honest and gentle. Granted, Thor wasn’t the kind of guy who would crack open a beer and talk about the galaxy with you, but it’d be nice to know…something. Like a middle name. Or his parents’ names?

Parents. Never mind. Whenever Clint asked him about his parents, he would tense up and change the subject. Bad touch, bad touch.

“How are you and Lady Walker doing?” Thor asked while they walked down the stairs closest to his History classroom. Clint shrugged, smiling. “It’s going alright. We’ve got a date coming this Friday…I think I’m gonna ask her to be my girlfriend.”

“Joyous!”

“But…I think Bobbi isn’t a fan of that idea.”

“What role does Bobbi Morse play in your relationship?”

Clint scratched the back of his neck, opening the library door with his free hand. “Patsy’s told me tidbits, since she said she’d handle it herself…I guess Bobbi thinks Patsy’s a bad friend because she’s going out with me, since Bobbi liked me in the past, and she told me in like, December, so I guess she feels like it’s in some kind of code to not go after someone your best friend has liked before? I don’t know, I only know Patsy’s side of it, and Bobbi doesn’t want to talk to me. Boy, does she _not_ want to talk to me. She bolts whenever I come up to her in the hall. She doesn’t even sit in the gym during free period anymore.”

Topics like these were usually what he and Thor talked about. He brought this up to Natasha a few days ago, but she didn’t want to get involved, since Bobbi ad Patsy also happened to be two of her good friends. Thor was the next best option, which is something Clint never thought he would say.

Thor nodded. “I see. Well, I still do not think Lady Morse plays any part in your relationship, and therefore, how she feels should not matter, because you are not doing anything harmful.”

“I know,” Clint said, “But Bobbi means a lot to me, and so does Patsy. I don’t want to be the reason they aren’t friends. I’d feel super shitty.”

“I do not think something like this would lead Lady Morse to not want to be your friend anymore.” Thor set his backpack on the ground, plopping down in the chair. “You have nothing to worry about. This is between the two of them, you have no reason to get involved.”

Clint nodded, leaning back in his chair. “Alright. Okay, you’re right. Again.” He said. “Man, when am I’m gonna give _you_ advice? I feel bad, always dumping my problems on you.”

Thor chuckled. “I do not mind it, Barton. I would rather you talk to me than keep these emotions inside.” He paused. “Have you heard back from Southern Vermont yet?”

“No. They just send a copy-paste from the first email I got. ‘We’re still making our decision, you applied pretty late, stop talking to us’, blah, blah, blah. I have to find out soon so I can submit financial aid.” Clint rested his head in his hands. “College sucks, and I’m not even admitted yet. You made the right choice to not deal with it.”

Thor shrugged. “I wish I could attend university. It was not my choice to not go.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

Tony sat down at the head of the table, groaning loudly. “Why isn’t it graduation yet?”

“Did Tony have a hard day?” Natasha appeared, sliding into her seat with a playful smirk on her face.

“Yeah, kind of.” He bit back. “Apparently this shit hole never sent my transcript to UMass-Howell, and here I was, waiting for the admissions letter, when they didn’t even get the key part of the application. I swear, I’m ten seconds from running into the guidance office and giving Ms. Lee a piece of my mind.”

“I feel like Steve had to babysit you more than actually be your boyfriend.” Clint thought aloud. “You threaten to tear apart the faculty at least twice a week, which is, ironically, how often we choose to see each other in a week.”

Steve emerged, throwing his bag on the ground and taking his seat. “What about Steve?”

“Do you babysit me?” Tony asked, trying to appear innocent. Clint snorted.

“Oh, yeah. Constantly.”

“See!”

“I’m late, sorry!” Bruce sputtered, taking his seat. “Tutoring ran over. Freshmen like to talk.”

“Alright, we’re all here!” Clint clapped his hands together. “Let’s chat. How’s it going?”

They dove into small talk, occasionally branching off into interpersonal conversations. Clint looked around the table, feeling weirdly at peace. He had a stable support system with these guys. They were there for each other, which is something Clint hadn’t had in a long time, ever since Barney left.

Thor’s cell phone suddenly rang, which kind of freaked out everyone. They all sometimes forgot Thor had a phone, he literally only pulled it out to talk to Jane.

He pulled it out of his sweatshirt pocket, glancing back up and seeing five pairs of eyes staring him down. He smiled awkwardly. “Excuse me.” He leaped out of his chair, jogging away from them. The remaining people at the table looked at one another.

“…That couldn’t have been Jane.”

“Yeah, Jane doesn’t call him during study sessions.”

“We aren’t studying, though.”

“We talked about this last week! The sentiment of the thing!”

“I feel like this is a Loki prank.”

“Don’t bring up Loki at this table…”

They aggressively whispered to each other trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, because this was seriously weird, when Thor returned, looking absolutely shattered.

No one said anything for a moment; they had never seen Thor this upset (well, not since that time they went to the mall together, and Thor was told he was ‘too old’ to talk to mall Santa). Clint bit his lip. Maybe this was his chance to be what Thor was for him.

“What happened?” He blurted when Thor sat down. “You can talk to us.”

Thor cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “That…was my uncle.”

“Was it bad news?” Steve asked, scooting on the edge of his seat.

Just before Thor could speak, Loki appeared by the bookcase, his face soft. The whole atmosphere of the room changed. Clint saw Steve ball his fists, Natasha folded her arms and turned her face away. Clearly, everyone had their own reasons to not be okay with Loki’s presence.

“What are you doing here? You have no reason to be here after school.” Thor said quickly.

“Did you get the call?” Loki said gently.

Thor nodded. “Aye. I did.”

“Can you tell us what’s happened?” Tony blurted. “We’re all kind of dying of suspense!”

Loki looked at Thor with furrowed eyebrows, shifting the weight on his legs. “Have you not told them?” He paused. “Wait…how much do they know?”

“About what?” Bruce said. “Thor…Are you hiding something?”

Thor scratched the back of his neck, sitting down back in his chair. “Nothing.” Loki leaned against the bookcase, arms folded across his chest, watching, just like the other five people. Thor looked at his friends, each individual face filled with the same emotion: confusion and concern.

“I…haven’t been honest with you all about myself. I’ll start from the beginning.”

****

“Wait…what?”

Thor had been dating Jane for about three weeks now. He had sent an email to his mother about her; she was smart, and pretty, and kind of intimidating, and how much his mother would like her.

He was conflicted on when was the right time to tell her about him. Like, _all about_ him. His mother responded with two simple questions: Does she mean enough to you to include her in your life both in New York and in Asgard, and do you think she’ll want to stick around after finding out?

Thor answered yes to both, so at breakfast Saturday morning, he told her.

Jane sat across from him, her idle spinning of her straw stopping. “I need you to run this by me one more time…”

Thor sighed, resting his elbows on the table. “I am from a country called Asgard, which my father is the king of, making Loki and I the princes.”

“Okay, I got that part. But…why did you come here?”

“I do not get along with my father. I did not then, I still don’t today. He sees things as very black and white; I, as the first born, will rule over Asgard as his successor. There is no other way around it. I wanted an education, but he prioritizes international relations over being a well-rounded and educated individual. My mother understood, and constantly advocated that I go to school, that I could worry about becoming king when I was older, but he would not listen. So, when I was fourteen, and with my uncle’s promise that he would not tell my father, I flew across the globe to New York and started a life here.”

“How long did it take for your dad to notice?” Jane asked, just as their waitress dropped off plates of breakfast food. Thor relaxed; she seemed interested, and not in the way where she was treating this like a spectacle. She cared.

He chuckled. “Not very long. Loki noticed first, he heard me leaving the castle. My father found out in the morning while I was still on the plane. He demanded I return home. I couldn’t go back. I was a child, I did not want to think about the future, becoming king. I just wanted to go to school. And living with my aunt and uncle, I could do that.”

He took a breath. “By the time I had landed, my father had already given my uncle a very brutal phone call. But, my uncle did not want to send me back. He understood why I wanted to leave. So he let me stay.”

“What about Loki? When did he come here?”

“He came a month after. He said he did not come for me, he came to get away from my father, as well. I believe that he came because of me, if only a little bit.”

Jane leaned back in her chair, pancakes untouched. She shook her head. “A prince. I’m dating a prince. A rebellious prince!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say rebellious…”

“You didn’t play by your daddy’s rules. That’s a rebel if there ever was one.” She paused, looking at Thor for what felt like eternity. “Do you miss home?”

Thor mulled over it, running a hand through his hair. “I do. I miss my friends, my mother. The whole country. I just…I needed to think about me, and what I want to do.”

She nodded, resting her elbows on the table. “Does anyone else know?”

Thor shook his head. “Rogers knows some. He just knows that I hail from Asgard, nothing about my royal blood.”

“I’m honored that you trust me enough to tell me.” She smiled. The hairs on Thor’s neck stood up as he returned her smile, his palms growing hot. Her smile melted him.

“Thank you for being trustworthy.”

“Tell me more about your country, though. Is it small?”

“Quite small…but the mountains make it feel as big as Russia. Maybe I will take you in the future.”

XXXX

“A _prince_!?” Tony shouted. “You’re a goddamn prince of a small country!?”

Clint leaned back in his chair. Now he understood why Thor always kept to himself.

“Was there a reason you couldn’t tell us this?” Bruce asked, gentler than Tony.

Thor tapped his fingers on the table. “I made the mistake of telling people when I moved here, and they treated me different because they knew of my status. I have struggled with people taking advantage of me in the past, no matter the country.”

“Did you ever consider telling us?” Steve ask, his voice broken. Clint nodded in understanding; if anyone at this table had anything to be broken up about finding this out, it was Steve. He was Thor’s first friend, and has stuck by him since freshmen year.

Thor hesitated before shaking his head. “No. My original plan was to go home after graduation, and become a diplomat, as a way to prepare for inevitably becoming king. That was the agreement my father and I agreed on when I first arrived here. It is not that I do not trust you. I consider you all my closest friends. I just believed it to be easier for me to just…disappear. I cannot do that now.”

“Well, we can’t let you.” Bruce said. “You’re not allowed to disappear on us. We’re too close now.”

Thor nodded. “Aye. I cannot slip past you all…But I must leave for Asgard earlier than expected.”

“Why?” Clint said. He didn’t mean for his voice to shake.

“Father is dying.” Loki interjected, his face neutral.

“Father is dying.” Thor repeated, “And he wants me to come home. But I have to stay there.”

****

“I wanna hear more about Odin.”

It was two weeks after Homecoming. Thor, who was laying on the couch, looked up from his book, Jane sitting on the floor of her loft with books and papers scattered around her, her glasses sliding off the bridge of her nose. She looked at him, her head tilted in interest as she gently shut her textbook.

He furrowed his brows. “What brought this on?” He asked, swallowing hard. He hadn’t heard anyone say his father’s name since he moved here; everyone knew how tense and uncomfortable that name made him.

“I’ve been researching Asgard,” She confessed. “I know you didn’t want me to, because you want to show me yourself, but I couldn’t help it. I had to know more about it, but there’s no articles about your father. Well, there’s some, but they’re mostly just recapping times he’s visited other world leaders. I don’t know _about_ him.”

Thor chuckled, “You will find no pleasure hearing my account of my father. You are a scientist, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“So, as a scientist, you cannot come to a conclusion from bias, which is all I can give you.”

She paused. “Is it good bias or negative bias?”

Thor didn’t answer.

“Any kind of bias can lead me to a conclusion as long as I hear both sides.” She said, “Now, spill.”

He sighed, closing his book and setting it on the ground. “In an abridged version, my father likes to hide under the mask of a war hero, a father, a husband, and a brave leader, but, when the mask is off, he is a stubborn old man.”

“I saw a lot about him being a war hero. What war did he fight in?”

“Briefly in the Vietnam War; a part of a small fleet of Asgardian troops and planes to assist the Vietnamese. We were only a part of it for two years, from 1973-75. My father was 18 at the beginning of our involvement.

“Wait, the Vietnam War!? No textbook mentions you guys were involved!”

“There wasn’t a lot of us, and we didn’t fight on your side, so it’s not surprising that we aren’t mentioned. He married my mother when he returned home, and did not even think about bearing a child with her until he was close to 40, and I was born. Loki was adopted when I was five, and he took the throne in the same year. Of course, I have many half-brothers and sisters. My father is an adulterer.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry for your mom.”

“My mother knows. He slept with at least two women during their marriage.”

“And she stayed with him?”

“She stayed with him for the country, not for love. If the people saw the king getting divorced, they’d force him off the throne, which means I would be king by now. Asgardians are deeply against adulterers, if you could not tell.”

“…Your mother is still with him for your sake, then.”

Thor nodded, patting the couch cushion next to him. Jane hoisted herself off the floor, plopping down next to him as he draped her arm on the back of the couch, Jane instinctively leaning against him. She knew this was all she could get out of him for now. He couldn't talk about his father for too long.

“Your mother sounds like a good woman.” Jane said softly. “Do you think I can meet her?”

“Of course. She’s been berating me in her emails about when she could meet _you_.”

"So it's settled, I have to visit Asgard. For your mother, of course." She paused. "Do your study friends know about this?"

He shook his head. "Steve knows about Asgard and promised me to keep it a secret, but not that I am royalty. I don't know if I should tell the others, though."

"Why not?"

Thor sighed. "I just don't. Let's talk about something else."

Jane dropped it, and didn't ask again until February, and was met with the same answer. She didn't know why.

XXXX

The table was quiet. Thor’s eyes stayed on the table, not wanting to look up at his friends. Clint stared at him, his emotions bubbling. He knew this would happen. He knew that he couldn’t have a friend like Thor for this long. It was too good to be true. His dad left, Barney left, and now Thor was leaving.

“What’s gonna happen now?” Natasha choked out. Heck, they were all a little choked up. “What will you do?”

Thor took a deep breath. “I’m going to go home. But, I will only stay on one condition.” He turned to Loki. “You have to come home with me.”

Loki snorted, “What reason do I have to go back there? You’re the next king, not me.”

“Then Asgard will go without a king, if he passes. You can put the country on Frigga’s back.”

Loki’s face softened, crossing his arms, making himself look small. “Don’t bring mother into this.”

“Then you can ease her heart and she can see both her sons. This is a trying time for all of us.”

Loki hesitated, then sighed. “I’ll think about it.” He said, barely audible. Thor nodded, turning back to his friends.

“If you go home, you can’t come back. That’s what your dad said.” Clint said. “You can’t leave us, Thor.”

“My country needs me, Barton. My father and I may not get along, but it will haunt me for the rest of my life if I do not see him in his final days.” He managed a weak smile. “I will write you all letters. I promise.”

He sighed. “It seems I have gotten too used to my civilian life here. It’s a good thing to go back to my roots. I miss the mountains.”

****

He stroked her hair in the dark of her room last Saturday.

“If you go to Asgard, you’ll take me with you, right?”

“Of course. We’ll go in the summer time. The asters grow in such high numbers, it’s like the fields are purple lakes.”

“That sounds good.” She yawned. “I’ll always be by your side.”

He smiled. That had become their nightly ritual. “And I by yours, my love.”

XXXX

Thor left on Friday. It rained.

The six of them, including Jane and Darcy, took him and Loki to the bus station after school. Clint hugged him a little too tightly with hands shaking a little too hard, and thanked him for being a good friend. Thor told him that he was the one who should be thanking him, and promised that the first letter he wrote would be to him. That eased Clint’s mind, if only just a little.

Natasha kissed his cheek and told him to keep dancing. Bruce was a trembling mess when he dove into Thor’s broad chest. Tony gave him a hug and a quick pat, telling him to stay strong, tough guy.

Steve’s goodbye was the longest of the eight of them, and he wasn’t ashamed to wipe his eyes after releasing his friend.

Darcy hugged him with a smile, thanking him for all he’s done for them, especially Jane.

Jane held him for a long time, and told him to call her once he got to the airport, and that summer was still the plan, which is something Clint didn’t quite understand, but he wouldn’t try to.

The two loaded the bus, and Jane cried when it trudged away. They all stood there for a while.

Clint’s phone buzzed in his sweatshirt pocket. He pulled it out, not minding the raindrops quickly covering the screen. It was a text from Patsy.

_We should reschedule. This isn’t a good time for you._

Clint smiled weakly. She could tell how he was feeling even when she wasn’t there.

_No, I wanna see you. I was taught to not bottle up my emotions by a good friend, and I’m gonna keep that going. Come over tonight instead._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these past two weeks have been the busiest weeks of the semester for me so far, so i'm real sorry i haven't updated. had a looooot of shit to do and exams to study for
> 
> LINKS
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twit)  
> vodkakun (tum)


	27. A Study in Returning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school newspaper needs staff members, and, reluctantly, Clint joins the staff with Peter, but the job proves too much for him when it turns out his column is insanely popular with the student body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gave y'all a long one!

Clint walked into first period History on Tuesday—no, more like, he _slinked_ into first period History. Why? Because Clint had senioritis.

They were balls deep into second semester, the last day for seniors a mere two months away, so this was the time for teachers to urge their students to be diligent and stay on top of their work, and to not let senioritis get the best of them. But it got to him. Hard.

His admissions letter from USV was at home—he had gotten home super late last night from closing the grocery store, and was too exhausted to bother sifting through the mail on the table, but his mother had texted him when he got to school that morning that it was here—he was passing all his classes. So, he tuned out. Nothing in high school mattered much to him anymore. He was graduating soon. So, all of Clint’s energy went towards his friends and Patsy, his girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Weird.

Clint hadn’t told the others about his relationship with Patsy; Thor’s the only one that knows. He didn’t know what they would say. Especially Natasha, who was adamant on remaining Switzerland. He knew what Bobbi would say, though.

“Should we tell Bobbi?” Patsy asked him in the dark of his room Friday night. Clint’s mother was working a night shift at the hospital, and Clint didn’t want to be by himself. So he asked her to stay.

Clint sighed, absently running his fingers up and down her arm as she sat up against him. “Not now.”

“She’s gonna find out eventually. If not from us, from the others.”

“We don’t have to tell everyone right away. Let’s just…test the waters.”

“Test the waters? Oh, are you saying you don’t know if you want to date me?”

“Pats…”

“Kidding, kidding.” She paused. “You’re right. We did just start dating…but Bobbi’s my best friend. She’s usually the first person I tell this kind of stuff to.”

“I know. But you know she wasn’t even okay with us going on a date. How’s she gonna react to us going steady?”

“I’m really upset you just used ‘going steady’ in a sentence.” Patsy sighed, resting her head against Clint’s shoulder. “This is frustrating.”

“I know. Hey, maybe we can just hold out until graduation.”

“I don’t want to be a secret for that long, Clint. I like you and I want the world to know I like you.”

“You just wanna hold hands in public.”

“Maybe…”

Clint flopped in his chair, returning to reality as he rested his head on the surface on the desk. That was a week ago. Since then, he had told the study group they were together, but that was it. He had been running on autopilot since then. Go to school, go to study sessions, go to work, text Patsy. Wait for Thor to write to him. He didn’t expect the guy to immediately reach out to him, but it would’ve been nice to hear from him. If his dad’s okay. If he misses them.

The PA system crackled, class president Wade Wilson’s dumb voice spilling over the speaker.

“Sup, Midtown! Class President Wade Wilson here with the morning announcements!”

Clint tuned out, peering at his phone under the desk. Patsy had texted him saying she needed to tell him something, and he was waiting for a response. They hadn’t even been a couple for that long, and something had already happened. Great.

“…I honestly would’ve fought the guy. Oh! So, the newspaper needs staff writers and photographers for the remainder of the semester—preferably underclassmen, but, hey, they said they’ll take what they can get! Oh, uh, probably shouldn’t have mentioned that part…So, if you’re up for writing for the Midtown Beacon, see Mr. Rand in room 200 after school today. That reminds me of another story, actually…”

Clint felt someone tap his shoulder, lifting his head up and looking in the direction of the hand, class vice president Peter Parker looking at him with his hand snapped back towards his body.

“What’s up, Pete?” He asked.

“I think I wanna join the newspaper.”

“That’s great, Pete. Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

Peter shook his head, shoulders hunching. He put on a weak smile. “Would you wanna do it with me?”

“No.” Clint said immediately. “Writing isn’t my forte, and I’ve never even held a camera. I also don't care about the paper, to put it bluntly.”

“C’mon, please?”

“Why not ask Wade? Or Hank?”

“Wade would laugh right in my face, and Hank just spends all his time in the lab or with Jan.”

“Okay, then why me?”

Peter paused. “Well, we don’t really do anything besides paintball—”

“Which has been going insanely well, might I add.”

“It is. But, I’ve been looking for something to do besides student government and paintball. I like photography; I plan to do photojournalism this fall. This could be fun for both of us. Plus, I don’t wanna go by myself because my ex is the editor-in-chief.”

Clint’s brows furrowed, sorting through names to see if he knew who that was. “…Mary Jane Watson?”

Peter nodded. Clint leaned back in his chair. “Wait, you dated Mary Jane? When?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “We started dating sophomore year. We broke up over the summer. It wasn’t…it was messier than I’d like to admit.”

“…Messy how?”

Peter sighed. “My uncle had to be on standby because there was a chance she and her dad were going to come to our house to fight me.”

“…Alright, yeah, that’s a little bad.” Clint rested his arms on his desks, looking at Peter’s hopeful face. He groaned, wiping a hand over his face. “Fine. Okay, I’ll go.”

Peter grinned, Clint holding his hand up. “I’m only going to one. If I hate it, I’m not coming back, but I’ll escort you to and from meetings, in case she’s still…sour towards you.”

“I’ll take it! Thanks, Clint.”

He turned back to face the front, Mrs. Munroe staring at the PA system in disbelief that Wade was still talking, his phone vibrating. He reacted immediately, seeing Patsy’s name on the screen.

_Nevermind. I’ll tell you later. Sorry! Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad._

Clint sighed, tapping away a response.

_Alright. I trust you. Oh, looks like I’m joining the newspaper._

_What? You don’t even like writing text messages, and you’re gonna write for the paper?_

_Peter wants me to go with him, so I’ll try it out. I might like it._

_Aww, look at you trying new things! :) I’m impressed you’re even joining a club, since you have the worst senioritis in the world out of anybody I know right now_

“Alright, alright. Fury’s kicking me off the system. That’s all from me, Avengers—for now. Wilson out!”

XXXX

Clint and Peter stood in front of room 200 after school, muffled voices bouncing against the closed door.

“Are you gonna knock on the door, or just stand there and pretend you’re on the paper?” Clint said curtly. Peter whipped his head around to glare at him, Clint shrugging it off.

“I don’t know what do expect…” Peter said.

Clint took a step forward, racking his knuckles on the door. Peter stared at him in bewilderment. “Clint! What the hell!”

“You were going to stand there going on and on about shit that isn’t important. Take life by the horns, Pete. You only—”

The door swung up, Mary Jane Watson grinning at them, but it immediately faded when her eyes fell onto Peter.

“…Peter.”

“Hi.” He choked out. Clint glanced at Peter, then to Mary Jane, and back to Peter. He suddenly felt like this wasn’t a good time for him to be standing here.

“How’s it going?” Peter asked.

“Fine.” She said quickly. “Just fine.”

They look at each other for what felt like eternity, Clint clearing his throat. “We’re here to join the paper.”

Mary Jane snapped out of her trance (what _kind_ of trance it was was beyond him), offering him a small smile. “Awesome! Come on in.” She stepped to the side, pushing the door open to reveal about five people hunched over computers, Mr. Rand sitting on a desk in the back of the room, shoes neatly placed on the ground next to him and legs folded under him. His eyes were shut and his breathing was slow.

“Mr. Rand! We have some new faces.” Mary Jane said, walking in with Peter and Clint following close behind. Mr. Rand opened his eyes, smiling warmly.

“Welcome! We appreciate you deciding to help us.” He unfolded his legs and pushed himself off the desk, brushing off his slacks. “As you can tell, we don’t have a lot of people.” He waved his hand to the aforementioned five people at computers. “We used to be thriving with writers and photographers, but, a majority of them graduated, or decided to pursue other clubs. But, we are still writing!” He laughed awkwardly.

“You guys are the first new staffers to come in,” Mary Jane continued. She picked up a single sheet of paper sitting on the chair of the desk Mr. Rand was on. “So, you can pick up whatever position you want. First come, first serve.”

Clint took the sheet, Peter hovering over his shoulder. “Wow, you guys have a ton of photography positions…”

“It’s better to have specific people to take pictures for specific sections, that way, we’ll actually get the photos we need.”

“You guys have a lot of sections, or columns, whatever. How do you do it with just the six of you?”

“Lots and lots of dedication.” Mary Jane nodded. “We group each section into six general sections, and we’re in charge of filling our assigned section. Every staffer is a future journalism major, so we get it done.”

“Mary Jane is very devoted to this paper.” Mr. Rand added. “We have to pry her off the monitor sometimes, or she’ll be here for a whole night.”

Mary Jane shrugged, “It comes with the title of editor-in-chief.”

The door opened, three more people walking in with hopeful faces. Mary Jane grinned. “Hi! Welcome to the Beacon!” She quickly scurried to them, leaving Clint and Peter with the list of jobs.

“I think I’ll do front page photography.” Peter said, his face lighting up. “Imagine my name under a front page picture! Statistically, that’s the only page high school students look at, you know.”

“Perfect!” Mr. Rand said, “Let me introduce you to our head photo editor. Samantha!”

Clint watched Peter walk away, looking down at the list again. Sports writer, entertainment copy editor…He could make the crosswords? Nah, that’d get boring after a while. He didn’t know what a ‘Feature writer’ even did. He sighed; this was becoming a losing battle. He wasn’t a great writer, and all of these openings sounded too time consuming and…important.

Then, he saw a position at the bottom of the page.

_Advice columnist…?_

“Do you have any questions?”

Clint looked up, a girl with tanned skin smiling at him. He paused, looking behind him. More people had walked into the room, Mary Jane bouncing with excitement. He turned back to her.

“I think I wanna do the advice column.”

“Oooh, we’ve never ran that before. This could be fun. Come here, I’ll show you the programs. Have you ever used InDesign?”

“Don’t even know what that is.”

XXXX

It hadn’t always just been Bruce and his father. His mom was around, sometimes. Unfortunately.

The first time his mom walked out, he was six years old. His dad was hunched over the kitchen table, looking hollow and lost. Bruce asked where mom was, and all his dad said to him was that she would be gone for a while. She was.

She showed up again when he was nine, and his dad was all smiles again. She was there in the mornings before he went to school, and she saw him off to bed at night. Bruce knew he should’ve been happy she was back. He had a mom again. His dad was happy, and she was happy, too. But he was so used to the past three years of just him, his father, and the neighbors, he couldn’t accept it so easily.

She left again nine months later, and there his dad sat, a shell of a person over the kitchen table in the dead of night. Bruce wasn’t sympathetic towards him this time; he was mad. Really mad.

For five years, it was normal again. His dad went to work, Bruce went to school. Sometimes he’d have the night off and they’d eat dinner together, but most of the time, he was at Rita’s with her two sons, eating dinner, and then playing video games and card games until Rita carried him back to his own bed.

For five years, he was angry. He knew his dad missed his mom, but he didn’t know why. He didn’t understand.

She knocked on the door when he was almost sixteen, and Bruce was the one to open it. Not his dad.

His anger was no longer a low buzz on the back of his neck, but had manifested into a person. He clenched his fists and gave her a piece of his mind.

She didn’t leave, though. That wasn’t enough. She stayed for a year, and his father was happy. Bruce was not. Rebecca Banner left in the middle of night the day before Bruce’s seventeenth birthday, and Bruce told her one thing before she left: all he wanted from her was to never come back.

She listened. But then again, he knew his mother at this point.

So, here he was, sitting at his kitchen table with his girlfriend Darcy Lewis, witling away at her pre-calculus homework on a Wednesday night. His father was at work, and would be gone until it was time for Bruce to wake up to go to school in the morning. Dinner was up to them, which Bruce didn’t mind, because Darcy always made great food (since she found out Tony could cook a mean pasta dish, she had been going crazy with new pasta recipes as an attempt to one up him, which she would never admit, but Bruce knew).

There was a knock at the door, which startled him. The only person who ever knocked on their door was Rita, but she was dead asleep, or Darcy, who was already in the room. He pushed himself out of his chair, striding over to the door, trying to appear as confident and collected as possible. He swung it open with a swift yank, coming eye to eye with browns eyes just like his own.

“Hi, baby.” Rebecca Banner spoke in a raspy voice, smiling gently at him.

Something in Bruce broke. He didn’t know what it was, but it was in his stomach and it snapped in two, and now he was simmering in a low, hot anger. Why was she here?

Darcy emerged next to him, resting her hand on his back. “Everything okay?”

Rebecca Banner’s eyebrows shot up, smiling at Darcy. “And who is this, Brucey?”

Bruce remained quiet, Darcy glancing at him with worry. She looked back at the woman in front of her. “I’m Darcy, Bruce’s girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Rebecca nodded. “Took you long enough to get one of those.” She looked at Bruce again. “Is your father home?”

“He won’t be back until late.” Darcy said, taking over for Bruce. She could tell something was wrong. “Do you want to leave a message?”

Rebecca glanced at Bruce, then smiled at Darcy. “Tell him Rebecca’s looking for him. He knows where to reach me.”

Bruce slammed the door suddenly, hard and quick, the frame rattling. Darcy took a step back.

“Who was that?” She asked in a gentle tone.

He inhaled sharply through his nose. “My mother.”

“That’s your mom?” Darcy sad. “Didn’t she leave when you were like, really little?”

“Yeah. She’s been in and out ever since.” He wiped his hand over his face. “This is the third time she’s come back.”

“Third?” Darcy folded her arms across her chest. “What a piece of shit.”

“I’m well aware.”

Darcy’s shoulders relaxed, taking a step forward and wrapping her arms around Bruce’s middle. “Do you want me to leave? I don’t want me being here pressuring you to tell me about her.”

“No.” Bruce said quickly. “I don’t want you to leave. I’ll tell you.” He paused. “It’s just…it’s a story I don’t like retelling. But for you, I’ll do it.”

XXXX

“Advice columnist? I didn’t even know you could read!”

Clint slouched over the table during their study session on Thursday—the second one without Thor— while Tony was throwing his head back in laughter. He had told his friends that he had joined the paper with Peter, so he couldn’t make the next two meetings. He gave them flyers talking about the new advice column, and where they can send their letters too. A piece of him knew they would never write to him, though.

“I just need you guys to not tell anyone it’s me. I’ll be using a pseudonym.”

“What is it?” Natasha asked, biting back a smile. Clint glared at her.

“You’ll see when the first issue comes out next Friday.” He said. “I’m not telling.”

“I mean, we’ll find out eventually.” Steve said, “So it’s not really a secret.”

“I’m delaying the inevitable of Tony Stark’s obnoxious ass laugh.”

“My laugh is comparable to church bells, thank you.”

“Says who?!”

“Steve says!”

“Oh my God, Steve, why would you give him that?” Bruce sighed. “His ego’s gonna be at max capacity for at least four months.”

“Honesty isn’t the best answer, sometimes…” Steve murmured. Tony whipped his head around to look at him. “Wanna say that a little louder, Rogers?”

“Do you think you’ll get any submissions?” Natasha asked while Tony interrogated Steve. Clint shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe one or two. We’re only gonna print three pieces per issue. The best part is that I don’t have to interview anybody; I’m literally just answering mail to the best of my ability.”

“That should be fun,” Bruce offered. “I’ll be waiting by newsstands with bated breath.”

Clint smiled, looking down at his hands. One or two letters. That’s doable.

What wasn’t doable, though, was the fairly thick stack of papers Melita Garner—the girl who showed him the ropes his first day, who also happened to be co-editor-in-chief—placed in his hands when he walked into room 200 after the study session.

“…What is this?” He asked slowly.

“Submissions for ‘The Hawk’.” She grinned. “This is way more than any of us anticipated. If we’re being honest, we thought your section would flop.”

Clint shrugged off the comment. “So, what now?”

“Pick three that you have a good answer for, write it in AP stylebook, like I taught you, and give it to MJ. Whatever you don’t use now can be used in later issues.”

Clint nodded. “Okay. Sounds pretty painless. I can deal.”

“They’re all anonymous submissions, so no matter how juicy they are or how much you wanna know who sent it, we’ll never know. Do you still wanna go through with this? If it blows up, you’re gonna have a way bigger role on the paper.”

He hesitated, looking at Peter on a desktop towards the front of the classroom. He was working with Samantha Chan, the head photographer, sorting through pictures he took at a protest outside city hall. His shoulders sank. Fuck, he was a really good friends sometimes.

“Yeah, I can do this.” If he could get his senioritis under control, that is.

“Great! If you have any questions, come find me.” She sauntered off and called to Mary Jane, while Clint plopped at a desktop and laid the papers out in the small desk space he had.

Alright, he thought, just pick three. Shouldn’t be too bad. He reached for the first submission in the stack.

_Dear Hawk,_

_What should I say to a teacher who I think is purposefully screwing over my grade? –AC_

Beats me, Clint thought. That one’s too deep for the first run. I don’t wanna turn the student body against all their teachers in my first issue…

_Dear Hawk,_

_My boyfriend makes fun of me because I don’t really understand sports like he does. But, when I tease him about not seeing a popular movie, he gets defensive. What should I do? –JL_

Dump the bastard, Clint snorted. Easy. He sounds like a jackass. C’mon, there’s gotta be a good one in here. Not too heavy, but not too flat…

_Dear Hawk,_

_I’ve liked this girl for almost a decade, and she’s finally single. We’re not the best of friends, but we do talk sometimes. Should I ask her out, or am I too late? –TM_

Bingo! Clint smiled, laying it flat on the other side of the monitor. He rested his fingers on the keyboard, the blank page staring back at him.

_Dear TM,_

_Make sure you read the situation as best as you can. Pay attention to her body language—does she smile a lot, laugh at your jokes a little harder than others (just some examples)? If her body language and conversations aren’t aligned with how you’d be around a potential romantic partner, you may have lost your chance. You can always try and steal a base and go ahead and ask her out; if you strike out, at least you tried. If you’re safe, that’s even cooler!_

_\--The Hawk_

Clint sighed, hitting the enter key to a new page, looming over the pile again. Alright, this wasn’t too bad. It was the page layout he wasn’t looking forward to.

XXXX

Rebecca and Brian Banner sat next to each other in the kitchen when Bruce walked into the apartment after school on Thursday. His dad flinched when he heard the door slam, and his avoided Bruce’s cold stare by looking at his hands in his lap.

“Hi, baby.” Rebecca said with a toothy grin. “How was school?”

Say something, he thought fiercely. He swallowed hard and ignored her, walking to the hallway where two bedroom doors stood, swinging into the first door.

He made sure to leave it cracked. He needed to hear what they were saying. He flopped on the bed in exhaustion, trying to calm down. He hated that ‘hi, baby’; she said it every time she popped back up in their lives, as of nothing had changed and she’d be accepted with open arms. He wasn’t her ‘baby’. She wouldn’t have left them in the first place if Bruce meant that much to her.

His phone buzzed on his nightstand, a text from Tony.

_Is she there?_

Bruce told Tony about his mom last night in dazed frustration. He didn’t want to lash out at Darcy accidentally, since she was the only person besides his father who knew about his mother’s…habit. He decided to call Tony so he wouldn’t go insane and overwhelm Darcy with his personal life.

He tapped away a response. _Yeah. In the kitchen with dad. Awesome._

_You gonna talk to your dad about her?_

Bruce sighed. _I have in the past. I’ve tried for a long time. I don’t think I can get through to him._ He paused. _You know what, as soon as I get to D-NY, that’s it. I’m not gonna tell him what to do. If he wants to ruin his life over and over again, I shouldn’t have to stop him. I can’t be his hero anymore._

Tony didn’t respond right away. That made him nervous.

_You aren’t being rational. You’re just upset._

Bruce’s brows knitted in frustration. _I’ve been experiencing this “in-and-out” bullshit for years. I can’t deal with this anymore. This isn’t fair to me._ I should’ve never told him, he thought coldly. He doesn’t get it. He never will.

_I know it isn’t, but have you asked his dad about how he feels when he lets her back into his life?_

_I’ve been asking him why for years! He won’t tell me why!_

It took Tony what felt like an eternity to text him back, and Bruce hated the wait, because he knew he was picking his words carefully. He hated it when people did that. Just say it, don’t try and spare my feelings.

_You’re not being fair and considering your dad feelings. You’re just thinking about your own._

_I’ve only been considering his feelings. I’ve only been thinking about his wellbeing. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t act like you knew everything about the situation._

Tony didn’t respond for ten minutes, and Bruce threw his phone across the room, landing on the carpet with a soft thud.

There was a knock on his bedroom door. He glared.

XXXX

After spending three nights of the five after school in the computer lab and slaving over his page (he never wanted to hear the words ‘tracking’ and ‘widow’ ever again), Clint Barton’s journalistic debut hit the newsstands; aka, a small table at all the school entrances. When Clint walked into the school with Patsy, he immediately snatched a copy off the pile, holding it up to her with a smile on his face.

He hadn’t told Patsy about him joining the paper. The study group knew, and that was more than enough. He didn’t need the whole school knowing he was the man behind the column.

“The paper’s out.” He said. Patsy raised an eyebrow, taking her own copy. “Since when have you been excited about the paper?”

“Peter’s a photographer, I’m just excited to see his pictures. Friends supporting friends, you know.” And, I’m writing a column. But that’s a minor detail.

“This is way more pages than what the paper used to be…” Patsy observed aloud, flipping through the pages as they continued their walk through the halls. She got to page nine, Clint stopping himself from bragging about it. He had to admit, the page turned out decent, even if it was his first time. Instead of the three selections Melita told him to take, he ended up taking almost seven so he could fill the page.

“Advice column? They never had this before…” Patsy said, stopping in her tracks to read the page. “‘The Hawk’? Jesus, that’s so cheesy…”

The staff liked it, Clint thought, absently turning the pages in his own copy. He saw this whole issue yesterday when they had their staff meeting.

“Is it any good?” Clint asked, absolutely loving this ‘play dumb’ act.

“…It’s actually not bad…” Patsy said slowly. “This person’s giving really good answers…”

“Pats! Clint!”

They both looked up, Natasha and Anna Marie walking towards them, both holding their own copies of the first issue.

“Did y’all see they added an advice column?” Anna Marie asked, “This kid’s a riot!”

“It’s not that great.” Natasha teased, giving Clint a look. He glared at her.

“They’re funny, but they also give really good answers…” Patsy said. “The one about the food substitutes is actually really helpful. I’m always craving sugar, I could literally just be eating cheese slices.”

“That’s…a little overboard, babe.” Clint chuckled, snaking his arm around her waist. “Whoever The Hawk is sounds pretty cool. I’d play a rousing game of chess with him.”

“You can’t even play chess!”

“I should write in about Remy.” Anna Marie said, aggressively folding her paper back into shape. “He’s been a real card lately and I have not a clue what to do about ‘em.” Clint made a mental note to not answer any letters from AR.

“I don’t even think God himself can solve any of your problems with Remy…” Natasha muttered, earning a yell from Anna Marie and a snicker from Patsy.

Patsy looked up at Clint, who was looking at all the students with newspapers in their hands, resting her hand on his face. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m cool. I should get to class, though.”

“Alright. I’ll text you.”

They briefly kissed before they parted ways, Clint walking down the hall to History with his back a little straighter and his smile a little wider.

He was stopped by Peter, who waved him down from his locker. “Everything okay champ?” He said after he jogged over to him.

“Did you hear the sophomore parking lot entrance ran out of papers?!” He said frantically.

Clint’s brows shot up. “Ran out? Like, as in, people took all the papers? They’re actually reading them?”

Peter nodded. “We had to move more from the lab. People are actually interested in the paper!” He pointed to the picture on the front page. “Look at that! I have a front page picture!”

Clint smiled, slapping him on the back. “It’s a good picture, Pete. I’ll make sure to get it to the MOMA.”

“See? Aren’t you glad you joined the paper?”

When he walked into the lab after school, he was trapped by Mary Jane Watson’s surprisingly long arms hugging him.

He glanced at the staff members circling around him, then looked at Mary Jane. “Uhh…” He said awkwardly.

She released him, her eyes wet and smiling at him. “Thank you.”

“…For what?”

“People really like your column.” Melita stepped up, “People are buying subscriptions. By fifth period, we already had over 500 people subscribed to our paper, and Mr. Rand just went down to pick up more.”

Clint’s eyes widened. “Wait, people are buying subscriptions for my shitty column?”

“Readers think The Hawk is charismatic,” Ben Urich, a news writer, spoke up from his desktop. “And they find him relatable and easy to talk to. You exemplified that by choosing so many questions to feature. Good move.”

“Easy to talk to? It’s a linear model, though.” Clint said. He was glad he paid attention in public speaking last year.

Ben spun around in his chair to face their group. “You answered your questions like it was a conversation, instead of just a response. You sounded like you actually cared.”

“I mean, I do…” Clint murmured.

“Anyway!” Mary Jane clapped her hands together. “From all of us here at the Beacon, we wanna thank you for getting this paper back on track.”

He was met with applause (a little bit unwarranted, but hey, he wasn’t gonna pass up praise), and he looked at Peter, who was smirking at him, because he knew how much Clint was dreading joining this paper.

He smiled, nodding. “Alright, okay. No problem. I’m glad I could help.”

Mary Jane nodded, walking over to the chalkboard at the back of the room. “Okay, guys. We have to start brainstorming for issue two. It’ll be out next week.”

The staffers groaned, Mary Jane folding her arms. “You knew from the get go we’d be a weekly paper! Don’t give me that!”

XXXX

Bruce’s eyes snapped open when he felt a pressure at the foot of his bed, trying not moving. He didn’t want them to know he was awake. Whoever it was.

“Bruce.” The figure spoke in a low tone. It was his dad. He paused.

“I’m sorry.” He said. His voice shook slightly. “I know you’re mad. I’m…I’m mad, too.”

Then why? Bruce thought fiercely, but remained still.

“I love you, kiddo. I need you to trust me. I’ll tell you someday…” His dad sighed, letting himself trail off. He sat on the bed for a while longer, then the pressure left and the door was shut gently.

Bruce stirred, shutting his eyes again. He didn’t want ‘someday’. He wanted now.

XXXX

They were officially four issues in, and their once weekly paper was officially twice a week. All because of Clint’s column. He was confused about that, too.

When the second issue hit the stands, they flew off as quickly as they had put them on (which Clint was a little upset about, because him and Melita stacked them up very neatly, and even attempted to fold one into a cute origami design, but gave up when the first bus trudged up).

When Clint walked into the computer lab that Friday, they were drowning in submissions for The Hawk. No one expected him to be this popular. After seeing how much people loved his column, they were officially a twice a week paper, putting out new editions on Tuesday and Friday.

The third issue was the first issue that went to subscribers only, and the public was officially craving more of The Hawk. Clint sat at lunch with Natasha and Bruce and almost every head was hunched over a newspaper. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by it all; so many people were watching him now. He wasn’t sure if he liked it.

By issue four, at least three-fourths of the student body were newspaper subscribers. All thanks to Clint. Remarkably.

So, here he was. Typing out responses to ten submissions on the floor of Tony’s basement on a Sunday afternoon, the fifth issue right around the corner, accompanied by Steve and Natasha. They had gotten together to study for an upcoming History exam, but Clint was a little bit…occupied.

“They’re working you silly, Barton.” Tony said suddenly from the loveseat. “Don’t they know you have other classes that around newspaper?”

"Like he would be doing class work at this time of the year." Natasha snorted.

“We’re getting subscriptions out the ass, Rand is tempted to start paying us.” Clint replied, ignoring Natasha's comment while not looking up from his laptop screen. “Everybody wants The Hawk, and I gotta give it to ‘em.”

“We have finals coming up, though.” Steve pointed out. “Have you even started studying? Because the newspaper doesn’t really give you time to study…”

Clint sighed, “My job isn’t even that taxing. If you must know, the news writers have it the hardest. They have to have interviews and a story written all in a day. I’m just answering questions. I have it easy.”

“How’s Peter handling all this?” Natasha asked, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in the recliner. Clint paused, looking up at her. “I don’t know. We don’t really have time to talk. He’s taking pictures, I’m doing layouts. Too busy.”

He could almost hear the glances exchanged amongst the three of them, but he ignored, fishing through the papers strewn around him. A lengthy question caught his eye.

_Dear Hawk,_

_My best friend and I haven’t had a good relationship lately. She’s started dating this guy, and I used to like him, too, but he chose her. But she never told me they were dating, I had to find out from one of our mutual friends. She doesn’t understand how much this hurts me. I haven’t really talked to her and I miss her dearly, but I’m stuck. How can I get her to listen to me? –BM_

“Oh dear God.” Clint said aloud. This was from Bobbi. This was about him and Patsy. Oh no. Oh no.

“What?” Natasha asked.

“Bobbi submitted something to me.”

“Oh! Let’s hear it!” Tony said, shutting his textbook.

“…It’s about me and Patsy.”

Natasha sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Yikes.”

“Don’t answer it.” Steve said. “You’ve got hundreds of other submissions, you don’t have to answer hers.”

Clint stared at the paper a little longer, setting it down and reaching into the pile again.

_Dear Hawk,_

_I’ve been dating a pretty good guy for a little bit now. I think it’s going really well. Unfortunately, my best friend told him some time ago that she liked him—_

“OH GOOD GOD PATSY WROTE ABOUT ME TOO!” Clint shut his laptop, staring at the papers at his feet.

“Double yikes.” Tony murmured.

“Can he ignore this too, smart guy?” Natasha quipped, Steve sinking into the seat.

“Okay, maybe not. Maybe you need to talk to the both of them now…”

“Problems will never be resolved with advice columns.” Tony said, earning a nod in agreement from Natasha. Clint groaned, covering his face with his hands.

“I wish Thor was here. He’d know what to do. He’d say it in a whole fancy and eloquent way, too…”

“Don’t we all crave Thor’s wisdom…What are you gonna do?”

Clint was quiet, wiping his hands over his face. “I…don’t know.”

XXXX

Bruce sat on a cement block at the head of a parking space in the lot of his complex, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he watched a red Sentra pull into a space two away from him, the ignition cutting off and a woman stepping out. She slammed the door and stared at Bruce.

“Hi, baby.”

He exhaled sharply through his nose as Rebecca Banner sat down on the block next to him, fishing a carton of cigarettes out of her purse, lighting the cylinder and letting the smoke dance in the faint wind of March.

“I’m surprised you called me.” She said after a moment of silence. She took another drag of her cigarette, the fire of the ash glowing and dimming as the smoke left her nostrils.

Bruce was quiet. He took a breath. “Nothing I’ve tried in the past has worked. You still come back. I’m eighteen now. I know you aren’t coming here on your own free will.” He paused. “Why do you keep coming back?”

Rebecca Banner smiled pitifully, looking down at the ground. The wind blew the ash from her cigarette to the ground.

“Your father won’t tell you. He’s got too much pride. Always has.” She swallowed hard. “He calls me when he needs money. I stay for a while, give him a good little pile. When I’ve had enough, I leave. He keeps the money, puts it towards you, and calls me when it gets hard again.” She looked at Bruce. “I don’t come back for you. _He_ calls me back for you. He’s always thinkin’ about you.”

Bruce’s chest burned. It wasn’t anger, though. He was sad. He was crushed. His mother wasn’t coming back to play mommy when she felt it was convenient; she was doing his family a favor. He was business.

They were both quiet for a long time. Rebecca burned through two more cigarettes while Bruce sat on the block, lightheaded and winded, like he had been punched in the stomach.

He spoke before he could stop himself. “Stop.”

She looked at him with furrowed brows. “What?”

“Stop coming back.” He swallowed, hoping it would delay crying. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want you holding us down anymore. We can get our own money.”

“If you could, I wouldn’t be here, now would I?”

Bruce’s fingers curled into a fist, clenching so hard his knuckles were turning white. He looked at her with glassy eyes, angry because hers were blank and neutral.

“We’ll figure it out. That’s what we did when you left the first time. We figured something out. We’ll do it again.” He took a shaky breath. “I’m not gonna let you have a harness on his emotions like this anymore. This isn’t fair to him, or to me. Stay out of our lives. For good.”

She smiled. “Okay. I’ve heard it all before.” She stomped out her cigarette, standing up and brushing her jeans off. “I’ll be back. I know your father.”

He watched her walk to her car, unclenching his fists and feeling the welts rise on his palms. He smiled painfully.

“You don’t know me, though.” He called. She looked at him from the front seat, hesitating before kicking on the ignition. She peeled out of the parking lot in a sputter of black smoke and burnt rubber without looking back and turned left, the direction to the highway. Bruce couldn’t guarantee this was their last encounter. But she was gone. And things felt okay again.

XXXX

Clint quit the paper. He was just starting to enjoy the taste of fame, though.

Seeing that Patsy and Bobbi had turned to an anonymous advice columnist to solve their problems wasn’t sitting right with him, especially since both of their problems involved him. He didn’t want to be that to the student body anymore; some kind of entity that would solve everything like a magic 8-ball. He wanted this to be fun and silly, but it wasn’t anymore.

Mary Jane was damn near about to cry when he told her he was quitting. She was scared they would lose all their subscribers, but Clint tried his best to assure her it wouldn’t happen. They’d probably lose maybe a hundred or two, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He told Peter he’d look forward to his pictures, and Peter was just happy to go back to weekly so he could have a life again.

He met up with Patsy during his free period while she was wandering the halls during her physics class, which had become a habit that Clint wasn’t a fan of, and told her he had something to show her.

“Is it food?”

“If it was, I wouldn’t have invited you and ate it all myself. C’mon, Pats, you know me.”

“I know _now_ that you’re selfish and we’re never sharing food, if that’s what you wanted.”

He led her to the main staircase where he had his weekly existential crisis, keeping his head high once Patsy saw Bobbi sitting there, both of them looking at each other, then Clint in disbelief and discomfort.

He sighed. “Guys…we really need to talk. All of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for sticking around n reading!! we're getting so close! im lowkey emotional about it. we still have time though :)  
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


	28. A Study in Senior Skip Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's senior skip day at Midtown High School, but...not everyone gets the memo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey im here!!! hi

Steve had always thought about how his senior year would be.

He knew he would play football. He took a break from it freshmen year, because the varsity captain approached him in eighth grade and told him that there was a spot on the team reserved for him, and Steve was never the kind of guy to accept handouts, so he declined outright and gave up the sport when he entered high school.

Ever since his parents died, he always thought people only gave him things because they were gone. When they died, he took refuge in the homestead of Bucky Barnes, with his mother Winnifred (affectionately referred to as Winnie), and his kid sister Rebecca. For a week after the funeral, he went to school empty handed, and came home with gifts of condolences and notes to give to Winnie about dropping off meals. The doorbell rang upwards of five times an hour of mothers with foiled plates and crockpots. Steve just sat with his hands balled up in his lap as Winnie paused The Little Mermaid and opened the door. He didn’t think he deserved all those gifts. He didn’t do anything to deserve them.

So, with that philosophy under his belt, he wasn’t about to hold onto a spot that someone else, someone better, deserved. Once the captain had graduated, though, he ventured back onto the field, and earned his spot on the team.

So. Football. For sure.

He liked the idea of dating somebody his senior year. Companionship was a nice sentiment. He did foolishly think he and Peggy Carter would last a long time, even though she was two years older than him and was always looking for something new and exciting. For a year and a half, it was Steve. After her graduation day, it was college. Steve wasn’t a part of that something new and exciting. He just had to live with that.

He didn’t think he’d make any close friends by his senior year. He kept to himself, mostly; went to practice, came home, hung out with Bucky and Rebecca. The only other person who actually wanted to be his friend was Thor. Thor didn’t put him on some kind of pedestal, or expect him to be a wholesome ‘good guy’ all the time. He was just interested in knowing Steve, and being his friend. Steve was content with that; it would make graduation a little bit easier. Leaving Winnie would already be hard enough, considering that Steve really did think of her as his best friend, but that was beside the point. Thinking about parting ways from a big group of friends? Steve couldn’t handle it. He’s a huge softie.

So, here he is. It’s his senior year, _real_ senior year. He was the quarterback of the football team, he made a huge group of friends, and he’s dating Tony Stark. At least he was right about one thing.

Steve Rogers will never, for as long as he lives, completely comprehend that he dated _the_ Tony Stark in his lifetime.

It started out as something small. He’d see him in the hallway, and the hairs on his neck would stand up, which is what happens when you find someone attractive. Steve was never one to put a label on his sexuality (his teammates though? They basically demanded labels. It was the main reason why he always slipped out of the locker room when the talk of relationships came up, because he didn’t have time for compulsory heterosexuality), and the Barnes’ were very open minded people, so whatever happened was fine with him. But…this attraction to Tony was incredibly left field. Just out of the blue, he suddenly caught himself changing his route to class just to catch a glimpse of him. He was just a small, feisty comet that only came twice a year; in Steve’s case, though, it was twice in a school day.

When Thor told him about a study group he was joining, he was concerned, but didn’t feel the need to go with him. He knew people liked to make fun of Thor and tease him, but Steve knew Thor could handle himself. He mentioned Tony was a part of it, and, well, that sealed the deal for him. He was going, masking it under ‘I wanted to make sure you’re safe’, which sounds shitty, but it wasn’t a full lie. A partial lie. 20% lie.

Steve knew after that first study session that he was interested in Tony. The problem was, he knew Tony would never want to date him. He kind of reminded of him of Peggy, from what he heard in study hall in hushed whispers and giggles; he got bored easily. Tony Stark had options, and he was going to see them all, no matter what. So when they started dating, Steve was a little puzzled. And concerned. Oh, _very_ concerned.

He was puzzled because he didn’t know why Tony would settle down so easy, especially for him. He was concerned because Tony, like he said, gets bored easily. What if he got bored with Steve?

Though, they were already past the L-word, he had a rousing dinner with his parents (Mr. Stark glared at him from across the table, but Tony told him it was because he looked familiar. Steve hoped that was true), and they were constantly talking about their future…together. Steve shouldn’t be worried anymore.

But he couldn’t help it.

He sat in his car with Bucky and Natasha in Tony’s driveway around noon, the first Thursday of April, because it was senior skip day. Student council planned a day of fun for the seniors, a break from the doldrums of the hallways and take their minds off final papers and the inevitability of commencement. Steve was tasked with picking up Tony and Natasha, and meeting the others at the park, their designated rendezvous point.

“I need this day off.” Bucky sighed from the backseat with Natasha. “Like, we graduate next month! We don’t need all this stress. I just wanna chill.”

“You always wanna chill.” Natasha chided, “And when you do, you pick the most inconvenient times.”

“She’s got you there, Buck.” Steve added.

“What do you mean!? I choose my chilling strategically.”

“Yeah, like when Winnie asks you to mow the lawn, and you say, ‘nah mom, I’m chilling’.”

Natasha chuckled, “See? Inconvenient.”

Tony swung open the passenger door and flopped into the seat, smiling at Steve. “Afternoon, Rapunzel.”

Steve smiled back, trying to ignore the thudding of his heart in his throat. “Afternoon, Flynn.”

“Alright! To the park! Senior skip day!”

Steve’s grip on the steering wheel was a little tighter than usual, because the weather was finally warmer and Tony was wearing shorts today, and he had great legs, they both could agree on that. He was mostly quiet for the ride to the park; the conversations mostly consisted of graduation and summer plans, and he didn’t want to think about it. Not yet.

He and Tony had talked about being long distance in the fall, and really, they’re both fine with it. The study group talked about hanging out during fall and winter breaks from school. They weren’t going to lose touch that easy.

Steve was just more concerned with reality. They make all these plans, but what’ll happen when it actually comes time to leave?

He pulled into a parking space next to Hank Pym’s Impala and cut the ignition as Tony glared at Hank’s smiling face in the driver’s seat, Jan waving to them from the passenger seat. Bruce pulled up next to him a few minutes later, and everyone had arrived.

Wade emerged from Bruce’s backseat with Peter, blond hair spiked up into a quiff as he pushed his sunglasses down on his nose, shooting finger guns at Patsy, Bobbi, and Anna Marie as they got out of Hank’s car. Steve shook his head, stuffing his keys into his pocket and throwing open his door.

“Alright, what’s quickest way to get to the water park?” Jan asked, leaning against Hank’s car.

Bruce looked at her with furrowed brows. “I thought skip day was at the roller rink?”

“You’re both wrong.” Darcy said, “Skip day is at the entertainment center in downtown Midtown.”

“Uh, I heard the roller rink, too…” Jane popped her head out from Bruce’s backseat.

“I heard the water park.”

“No, it’s at the entertainment center. Where else would it be at?”

Everyone was officially in a circle in the middle of the parking lot, arguing where exactly they’re supposed to be going. Steve’s eyes bounced between everyone trying to explain what they heard and why they thought it was right, until something…caught his eye.

He nudged Tony, who was leaning against the trunk of Steve’s car with a bored expression on his face, turning to Steve in mild irritation.

“What’s up?”

“…Are we missing somebody?”

XXXX

Clint fucking forgot it was senior skip day.

He should’ve known when Patsy declined his offer to drive her in the morning after school yesterday. He definitely should’ve known when she confusedly asked why he would offer her a ride to school. He just said because they were dating and called her a bonehead. He wasn’t very good at picking up hints…

When he walked into the school, he didn’t see Tony and Steve walking hand in hand to Calc 2 (as he always did), and he didn’t see Natasha surrounded by Anna Marie, Bucky, Sam Wilson and Bobbi by the cafeteria entrance (again, as he always did), so he knew something was up.

He walked into History, strangely on time, and he was immediately reminded of what day it was when he saw an empty classroom.

It was goddamn senior skip day, and here he was. Not skipping.

Mrs. Munroe walked into the classroom, stopping abruptly when she saw Clint standing there.

“Oh, Mr. Barton. Did no one tell you it was senior skip day?”

Clint sighed, “No, I was told. I just forgot.” He slumped into a chair in the front. “This could only happen to me.”

Mrs. Munroe smiled, sitting down at her desk. “You’re not the first senior to forget.” She opened her laptop. “I don’t have a lesson planned for today, so usually on senior skip days I let my underclassmen come in for a study hall. Hope you don’t mind.”

Clint shrugged. “Not like I can say no.” He leaned back in his chair, pulling out his phone. No texts from any of his friends. Great.

The door burst open, a pack of students filing into the classroom, chiming off hellos to Mrs. Munroe as they sat in the back rows. Their conversations— _loud_ fuckin’ conversations, too—hushed down to whispers, and Clint could just feel their eyes boring into the back of his head. He looked up at Mrs. Munroe, who also noticed their quietness.

“What year?” Clint asked in a low voice.

“Sophomores.” She whispered back. “They seem curious with you.”

Clint cringed. Sophomores. The worst kind of high schoolers.

“Mrs. Munroe, I didn’t know you had detentions in the morning.” One of them snickered. Clint rolled his eyes. Just ignore them, Barton, he thought. Play another round of Candy Crush and just wait for the bell to ring.

“He’s not here for detention. He forgot it was senior skip day.”

Clint threw his head back. He was alone in this.

“How do you forgot about senior skip day?!” Another one exclaimed. “That’s the one day during senior year you don’t forget. You write that down.”

“Now, America, he’s not the first senior in the world to miss a skip day. It’s not a big deal, honey.”

Clint whipped his head around. “America? Is that your real name?”

A tan skinned girl with curly hair and intense honey eyes glared at him. “Yeah. What of it?”

“Nothing of it. Just…I have a friend who would like you. He’s very patriotic.”

America rolled her eyes, “Alright, bicho raro, cool your jets.”

“Ah, no, he’s ticked her off.” A bulky blond boy sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Keep it together for once.”

“Say it to my face, Teddy.” America snapped. Clint blinked. This was…weird. These kids reminded him of his friends.

“If you guys don’t shut up, Mrs. Munroe is gonna make us go back to actual study hall. Chill.” A brown haired boy said, his voice sounding a little worried.

“She’s too cool to do that, Billy, don’t worry.” A black haired girl said after her gum bubble popped. “Make yourselves useful and help me with this geometry study guide.”

Clint continued to watch them, brows furrowed in a familiar confusion.

America turned to him, giving him an up and down. “You gonna keep staring, or do you wanna sit with us?”

He glanced at his phone, seeing he was out of lives on Candy Crush. He sighed, shaking his head.

Standing up, he couldn’t really believe he was about to spend his first period hanging out with a bunch of sophomores. But, he didn’t really have any other option.

“Fine. I’ll join you. Geometry isn’t that bad, I’ll help. What’s your name?”

The black haired girl watched him sit next to her, throwing open her textbook. “Kate Bishop. Remember the name.”

“I’ll try.”

“No. You _will_.”

XXXX

After an hour in the parking lot, no conclusion was drawn. They had no idea where to go.

“What if we checked all three?” Darcy suggested as she sat on the concrete. “We’ll find the rest of our class eventually.”

“I’m not wasting gas for a 33% chance.” Bruce quipped.

“What if we sent one car to each place, then we meet back here?” Jan offered.

Tony rolled his eyes, finally deciding to push himself off the back of Steve’s car. “Ever think to ask Wade, Peter and Hank where this is happening? Since, y’know, they work closely to the people that put this together?”

Everyone looked at the three sitting on the ground, Wade picking at his nails when he looked up. He shrugged. “Pepper planned everything. She told me to work on prom. Same with Pete.”

Peter nodded. “You of all people should know how Pepper gets when she plans things, Tony.”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, you’ve got a point. What’s your excuse, Pym?”

Hank shook his head. “Pepper kept me out of it, too. She said she’d record everything for me.”

Bobbi groaned. “This is useless. Tony, text Pepper and ask her where it is.”

“She doesn’t check her phone in the middle of executing an event, it’s ‘unprofessional’.”

“What about Sam?” Patsy suggested. “He’s treasurer.”

“He’s out of town. Decided to spend skip day with his family.” Bucky said.

More groans. Steve looked at his friends, faces painted in defeat. He bit his lip. He had to think of something. He wasn’t about to get back in his car and go back home, let them leave without having any fun they were promised.

“What if we made our own senior skip day fun?”

He spoke before he could stop himself.

“There’s nothing to do in Midtown at one in the afternoon on a Thursday.” Natasha said. “We’re better off going back to the school then.”

Patsy stood up. “Steve’s right. We clearly have no idea where to go. To hell with student government sanctioned events—”

“Uh, class president here?”

“—let’s do something. Let’s just hit up the entertainment center downtown. Laser tag, go-karting. Fun!”

Peter stood up next. “I can do without your anarchism against student government, but I agree.”

The rest of his friends nodded, and Steve smiled. Alright. Good.

They piled back into their respective cars and started off to downtown, a half hour away from the park. Natasha sat in the back texting Clint, Tony telling her to let him know how much of an idiot he is with Bucky chiming in to sign it from him and Tony. Steve just smiled, flicking on his blinker to get onto the highway.

Tony looked at him, folding his arms. “What are you so happy about?”

Steve glanced at him, shrugging. “I’m just celebrating Clint’s mess up like you. You know me, Tony, I’m a little more subtle than you.”

“We both know subtlety isn’t my strong suit.”

“He sent a picture with a group of underclassmen…‘met your doubles, don’t come back’?”

“What!? I’m irreplaceable!”

After a conversation filled with trying to figure out who these ‘doubles’ of theirs were, they made it to the entertainment center, and the fun was on.

However, after two hours of parting ways and enjoying their day off, a murder was upon them.

XXXX

By fourth period, Clint put the pieces together. He knew who these kids reminded him of exactly, and it didn’t take long.

There was five of them. America Chavez was hard headed and seemed to always be on the defensive, which was basically Tony. Billy Kaplan, a total opposite of America, mostly minded his own business and tried to keep order amongst his friends; basically, what Bruce usually tried to do. Teddy Altman, like Thor, was level-headed and always honest to his friends. David Alleyne was kind of like Steve, who’s always willing to help and puts his friends before himself.

Then there was Kate Bishop. She kind of scared Clint.

Weirdly enough, he saw her as a combination of him and Natasha, and any person who was like Natasha was dangerous. Kate was very blunt and dry, sarcastic at inconvenient times (granted, that was all six of them). He felt drawn to her in a weird, paternal kind of way.

He didn’t think he’d enjoy their company. He kind of thought of it as friendship out of convenience, since his whole class was gone to the roller rink for the day, and he was stuck at the school. But, as the period dragged on, they managed to get a few laughs out of him. They made him feel comfortable.

He sat down in English, which was empty, of course, and was feeling kind of lonely without his new companions. Mrs. Page sat at her desk, glancing up to see a sulking Clint.

“I do believe you’re the only senior in the school, Mr. Barton.” She said, closing her book. Clint looked up, sighing. He was fed up with his teachers bringing up the same point over and over. “I’ve put that together.”

There was a knock at the door. Clint and Mrs. Page glanced at each other, Clint jumping up to get it. He swung open the door, and there was Kate Bishop and Billy Kaplan.

“What are you guys doing here?” Clint asked. He was mildly impressed; he only mentioned his schedule once in conversation.

Billy held out a folded slip of paper. Kate shifted her weight on her legs. “We so happen to be office assistants fourth period, Clinton.”

“Why are you assuming my full name is Clinton…?” He shook his head, taking the paper from Billy.

“Fury needs to see you.” Billy said. Clint looked down at the paper. _Pancakes in downstairs lab._

He snapped his head up at the underclassmen, then to Mrs. Page. She waved her hand, “Go ahead. Take your time.”

Clint was already out of the room when Mrs. Page said ‘go’.

“Who’s making these pancakes? What’s the occasion?” He asked while he walked, Billy and Kate trailing behind him.

“America’s gonna run for student council president, she’s making them during the lunch periods to get some votes.”

Clint nodded. “Smart. She’d have my vote.” He threw a look behind his back. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“There’s no one from your class here. Might as well have a good day.” Kate shrugged, walking ahead of him. Clint hung back, head tilted as he watched her walk ahead.

“This was her idea.” Billy said, standing next to him. “You’re her little buddy now.”

Nevermind. Natasha. She is definitely just Natasha.

XXXX

Tony stood in front of a table in a large dining room of the entertainment center. The pizza that they had all chipped in to order was ruined by three skeeballs. Keep in mind, this was a big ass pizza too.

When they got to the center, Wade and Darcy immediately darted into the building with Peter trailing behind them, telling them to slow down. Natasha asked Bruce why he didn’t go after Darcy; he said it wasn’t his job.

They got their all day wristbands, and headed straight for laser tag (“I gotta see how good you guys are, since you play paintball all the time.” Darcy said. “They’re probably terrible, even with all the practice.” Natasha snickered), which is where they all started together. They had separated into guys versus girls, though Bruce and Anna Marie decided to sit out, Bruce mentioning last weekend’s ‘paintball snafu’, which earned hisses in remembrance from the people who understood the reference. Darcy basically demanded to know what happened, but it was dropped immediately. So, Jane took Bruce’s spot. After one game, everyone had a different outlook on Jane, considering she’s the most competitive person they’ve ever played with, and they play regularly with Wade. The boys understood why she and Thor were meant for each other.

After two games, both teams each winning one, Patsy and Bobbi bailed out before they could start the tie breaker, with Bucky and Darcy following suit (Hank would’ve left, too, but Jan basically forced him to stay for one more). The remaining eight of them went on to the tie breaker, but it became an ‘every person for themselves’ match when Jane went rogue and shot Jan, claiming she was a ‘weak link’ (which basically terrified everybody).

So, after laser tag, everyone dispersed. The pizza would be ordered in another hour.

In the meantime, while Tony floated around from group to group, he witnessed Natasha hit jackpot twice at the Storm Stopper arcade game (she had small children gathered around her as she watched the light frantically circle around, and when she calmly landed on ‘Jackpot’, there was an uproar. Tony was impressed), Darcy got into a heated skeeball match with Bobbi and Patsy (Steve and Bruce had to mediate for obvious reasons). Hank, Jan, Jane and Anna Marie hung around the Dance Dancer Revolution Machine, and Peter and Wade were causing a raucous at the Go-Karts outside.

Wade basically fell onto Tony, catching him off guard while he watched Hank stomp furiously on the dance pad against Darcy.

“I should probably stop questioning your entrances.” Tony decided. Wade shrugged, “It’s for the best. Give me your money.”

“See, Wade, you gotta preface these kinds of requests with a _reason_.”

“I’m robbing you for the sake of pizza.”

“Okay, so you want me to chip in for pizza.”

“If you can decode what I’m saying, why make me elaborate? Jeez, Stark, you’re doing the most.”

Tony grabbed Wade’s hand and smacked a five dollar bill into it, before he could even get a hand-holding comment out of his mouth. “I’m good with anything but pineapple and olives.”

Wade gasped. “That’s a personal attack!”

Tony smiled, shooing him off. Wade turned around, muttering before he broke into a run. Tony shook his head, chuckling.

Last Tony heard, Wade had rounded up the remaining money and triumphantly brought them all together to witness an extra-large pepperoni and black olive pizza (Tony let the black olives slide, though reluctantly) being placed on their table inside by two employees.

“Mercy…she’s beautiful…” Bucky gawked, holding back fake tears as Natasha patted his shoulder.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Wilson, you had the right idea.” Jane nodded in approval. This earned surprise from everyone, since Jane Foster didn’t care for Wade’s existence more than anybody.

“Now, it’s incredibly hot.” One of the employees said, “I’d advise you guys to wait to eat it.”

Peter and Hank had already stuck their hands out to stop Wade from diving at it.

“Let’s go do bumper cars or something!” Darcy said, subsequently dragging Bruce by the arm. “It’ll still be here when we get back!”

“As bad of a driver as Bucky is, this should be pretty easy.” Steve teased. Bucky’s mouth fell open. “I can’t believe this. Steve Rogers, of all people, being mean to me!”

They had only been away from the pizza for twenty minutes. Bobbi and Jan were the ones to find it.

Three skeeballs sat on the pizza, sauce splattered on the table, cheese pushed to and fro. Bobbi fell to her knees.

“No…why…”

Jan frantically brought everyone together to the mourn the loss, all standing around in silence.

“50 dollars…wasted…” Wade whimpered. “Who would do this?!”

“Hey, losers!”

All 13 heads whipped around, a grinning Dick Grayson standing a good ten feet behind them. He waved to them with a skeeball in hand. “Told you I’d get you back!”

Wade, Tony, Steve, and Bruce were already in a dead sprint after him. They had a pizza to avenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the "brief" (like 4 month) absence. winter ain't a fun time for me  
> thank you for reading tho!!! im gonna finish this don't u worry
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @RADBERRY_ (twitter)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


	29. A Study in Stardom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spring talent show has arrived, and Natasha and Tony's little wager leads to an unexpected outcome. Also known as, that time the gang was moderately famous, and everybody hated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back again  
> sorry i had really bad writer's block and like no motivation lol......  
> i...had too much fun with this and you can absolutely tell

It was strangely hot on Tuesday, especially for early April, and talks of graduation and post-high school plans ran amok. Graduation party invitations, college roommate hunting. The future was a topic on everybody’s mind.

Even Natasha was thinking about the future, which was something she hadn’t really done as of late. It wasn’t because of how fast high school was coming to an end, though.

She walked into fourth period Latin that afternoon, feeling a little burned out. She had been at the Barnes-Rogers residence until late last night, helping Bucky study for his whopping three tests (“It’s like they _know_ I’m clocking out of school, so they throw more shit at me. This isn’t fair!” “What isn’t fair is that speech for public speaking you made me sit through. I mean, really, you couldn’t have chosen a better topic? Like, maybe a little more tasteful?” “Don’t sit there and act like ‘but he gotta eat the booty like groceries’ isn’t progressive feminist lyricism.”), and didn’t get home until late. Jan van Dyne fell into her seat in front of Natasha, causing her to flinch into attention.

“The afternoon crash hasn’t hit you yet?” She asked, resting her elbows on her desk.

Jan smiled, turning to face her. “I wanna ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Jan paused, mildly taken aback. “Woah, you aren’t going to outright say no?”

Natasha exhaled through her nose. “See, you would think. But, I’ve realized that you have an idealist mentality and asking really big and kind of random things is normal for you. Surprisingly, they’ve…always ended pretty well for me.”

Jan broke into a grin, Natasha rolling her eyes with a smile. “Cheerleading led me to becoming closer to you and the other girls, and Bobbi led me to Bucky. You kind of gave me a huge group of people I care about.” She paused. “With that being said, I know better than to fight you now.”

She looked back at Jan, who was trying her hardest to hold back tears.

“N-…Natasha…”

“Oh, God, I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m…I’m so moved…oh goodness, in the words of Anna Marie, I’ve caught a case of the vapors!”

“Okay, not in this case, but I’ll let it slide. So, what do you want to ask me?”

Jan sniffled, taking a deep breath. “Well, you know how the talent show is coming up, right?”

“Yeah. Next Friday, right? Why, do you wanna go? I mean, nobody really enters it, so there won’t be a lot of talent.”

“Well…I wanted to enter it. With you. And Patsy and Bobbi and Anna Marie, too.”

Natasha hesitated, a blunt ‘no’ stuck in her teeth. After embarrassing herself by performing background to Thor at his dance recital, she wanted to avoid the stage until it was time to walk it for commencement.

At the same time, though, she just gave a speech about how Jan’s ideas always led to good things. She sighed, running a hand through her hair, looking at Jan’s big, hopeful blue eyes, still wet from her brief crying spell.

She flopped into her usual seat in the library, third table behind the nonfiction section. And that’s how Natasha was roped into being in the talent show.

Clint ran in a few minutes after her, clutching his phone in his hand. She raised a brow. “What’s the hubbub?”

“Thor finally wrote to me!”

“That’s great.”

“It wasn’t just for me, though. He specifically stated in the subject line to read this to all of you, too.” He leaned back in his seat, fingers dawdling on the screen.

Natasha looked at him for a second longer, sighing. “You read it already, didn’t you?”

“Yes!” Clint said immediately. “Can you blame me?!”

“What are we yelling about?” Tony appeared, smacking his hands on the table as he settled in. “Did Patsy finally see she can do better?”

“The only person better for Patsy is Bobbi.” Natasha said.

“I’ve thought the same thing, but Patsy’s assured me Bobbi is in the friend zone. So no, asshole, we’re doing great. Thor wrote to me.”

“Ah, that big lug. I miss him a little more every day…”

Steve and Bruce arrived together, and Clint quickly opened his email and cleared his throat, making sure he had the full attention of his friends. He dove into Thor’s narrative about being back home, the passing of his father, and his coronation fast approaching. How he missed them, and was trying to convince his mother to let him come back for graduation, but it wasn’t looking too likely. They sat silent for a long time, digesting its contents. Tony was the first to make a sound, leaning back in his chair and exhaling.

“Alright, the mood sucks. How’s it going? Anything exciting?”

They were quiet for a moment longer before Natasha finally spoke. “I’m doing the talent show.”

She was met with four pairs of eyes, all exuding a range of emotions. Steve was confused, Bruce was smiling thoughtfully, but Clint and Tony were bubbling with laughter.

She sighed. “Go ahead, Dumb and Dumber, laugh it up.”

Clint and Tony immediately stopped, looking at her with full offense.

“How rude, Nat!”

“Wait, is he Dumber? Clint has to be Dumber.”

“Definitely not, that’s _you_ , Stark. Have you met you?”

Bruce waved his hand as the two bickered back and forth. “How did you get into that one?”

Natasha exhaled through her nose. “Jan, of course.”

“You can’t really say ‘of course’, plenty of our other friends would try and get you involved in that.” Steve said, Natasha making eye contact. They were both already thinking of Bucky.

“What, are you gonna do ribbon twirling? Dancing?” Tony snickered.

“I mean, most likely dancing. It should be fun!” She glared at Tony, who was staring at his phone with a smirk on his face.

“I don’t see what’s so entertaining, Anthony. At least I have a talent.”

Tony’s head snapped up, the whole table in a stunned silence; except for Clint, who was looking at Natasha with his mouth in a perfect ‘O’ shape.

He waved her off. “Doing a dance isn’t a big deal. I could do that…and I could probably do it better.”

“Tony…” Steve ran a hand over his face. His role from ‘boyfriend’ to ‘babysitter’ was always an instantaneous jump.

Now Natasha was the one with the smirk. “Oh? Really?”

“Of course. You think these hips are just for show?”

“Put your money where your mouth is, then. Join the talent show.”

Clint was grinning ear to ear. “Oh, _oh_ , this is _rich_!”

“Clint! Don’t egg them on!” Bruce, who was just as sick of it as Steve, joined in.

Natasha leaned back in her chair. “Oh, but me and the girls versus just you isn’t totally fair. You can recruit a boy band of your own.”

“Fine. These guys.” Tony said quickly. Clint’s pleased face vanished, looking at Stark with wild eyes. “Excuse me?!”

“Let’s keep this interesting.” He continued, ignoring Clint’s panic. “What if I win?”

“God, we have a wager!” Bruce groaned.

Natasha tapped her chin in thought. “Alright. If me and the girls win, or even gather a remotely better response than your performance…”

“How about I just treat you to lunch? Simple and fair.” Tony interjected. She could tell her was starting to regret his decision.

She hesitated before smiling. “Alright. You can treat us to lunch. And by us, I mean Hank Pym and those Justice Academy dudes you hate so much.”

“NO!” Tony shouted, slamming his fist on the table. “I refuse.”

Natasha shrugged, “This wager was your idea. I thought you were confident.” She stuck out her hand for the air handshake, which meant this was serious.

He hesitated before straightening up in his seat. “If I win, you have to be my personal cheerleader for a whole day. I like positive reinforcement.” Tony smiled. “We both know you’re great at that.”

Natasha’s eyes widened, immediately looking to Steve. “You promised!”

“Wait…what?” Clint said.

“I didn’t! I swear!”

“Tipsy Steve is very talkative.” Tony paused. “So, do we have a bet?” He stuck out his hand. Natasha smiled, both of them waving their arms up and down in unison, sealing the deal. Clint groaned, dropping his head on the table.

“Tony’s big mouth is going to kill me one day.”

“Us too.” Steve and Bruce said in unison, while Tony stared smugly at Natasha.

XXXX

So…maybe he was a little overzealous. Maybe.

Though Tony had recruited the three witnesses at the study table, Bruce bailed. Bruce knew better than to get involved in Tony’s bullshit. He thankfully convinced Steve to stay on board (he just had to promise home cooked dinners every Friday over the summer), and recruited two people who were weirdly excited to take on this task.

“Alright, so are we writing originals or doing a cover? I already wrote this up in my contract, but I refuse to sing The Beatles, Hall & Oates pre- _Voices_ , or acoustic covers of trap songs.”

Six of them took up residence in the band room turned dance studio Wednesday afternoon, Tony sat on the floor regretting asking class president and vice president Wade Wilson and Peter Parker to join his pseudo boy band. Bruce took refuge against the wall in front of them, mostly for moral support, but he couldn’t not admit that he wanted to be the one in the audience watching them embarrass themselves, the opposite of the Thor’s dance recital debacle.

“Why are you guys doing the talent show anyway?” Peter asked, who was currently stretching. “Alison Blaire has won every year since we were freshmen.”

“Who’s Alison Blaire?” Clint asked.

“She’s, uh…very lively.” Steve said.

“Background: Her dad owns a recording studio and she constantly brags about making her own singles. She’s performed them every talent show thus far.” Wade explained. “She’s also the first head cheerleader in Midtown High School history to be _unanimously impeached_ sophomore year just for being too much of a show off.”

“Her performances for the talent show are a little…out there.” Peter continued. “I heard last year they had to give her a budget. She was trying to get paid back up dancers and choreographers.”

“I heard Pitbull turned her down for a feature on her song.” Tony snickered. “Pitbull, of all people!”

“Okay, so let’s not enter then.” Clint suggested. “She’s clearly already got us beat.”

“The bet, my dear Barton, was not to _win_. I just have to do better than Natasha.”

“How can you gauge that, though?” Bruce asked.

“If one of us even places, we automatically win. If neither of us do, it’s based on applause and general audience reaction, which is,” He pointed finger guns at Bruce. “Brucey’s job.”

Bruce’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Since you’ll be in the audience, you can hear and see reactions! You’re the man on the inside. Which is perfect, because you’re a pretty partial guy. Unless you wanna, y’know, vote in favor of your best friend…”

“You being my best friend was not a consensual decision, but I’ll be the judge.”

Tony clapped his hands together, standing up. “Perfect! Alright, we’ve got a week until the show on Friday. I’ve got three songs in mind we can cover…”

“Okay, so we _are_ doing covers! I was thinking—”

“We are not doing Madonna, Wade.” Steve said quickly.

“ _Like a Virgin_ is a masterpiece of an album and you know it!”

XXXX

This was surprisingly easy for Natasha. She didn’t like that this was so easy.

She heard from Bruce, who was playing double agent, that Tony recruited two people after he bailed, though he wouldn’t tell her who, which she wasn’t a fan of. Knowing Tony, Natasha wouldn’t be surprised if he paid off Remy LaBeau, drama club savior and Anna Marie’s on-again-off-again flame, just so he could give choreography to someone else and easily win the hearts of the audience.

She also wasn’t a fan of how seriously she was taking this.

She was in Patsy’s basement after the study session on Thursday, along with Patsy, Jan, Anna Marie, and Bobbi, couches pushed aside and a small speaker on the coffee table now on the other side of the room. They had chosen a song to cover—‘Potential Break Up Song’ by a unanimous vote, suggested by Patsy, which also solidified to everyone that her and Clint were meant for each other—and had been hashing out choreography for a solid three hours.

This was too easy because they were all cheerleaders with dancing experience. Natasha knew something was going to happen she wasn’t prepared for.

They were in the middle of rehearsing the routine for the first verse when Bobbi jogged to her phone and paused the music.

“What’s the problem, Bob?” Jan panted, wiping the sweat off her brow.

“We need a name.” She said, basically yelling. “We can’t be a girl group without a rad name.”

“I appreciate the emphasis on ‘rad’.” Natasha smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I’m serious! What makes groups like Girls’ Generation or Destiny’s Child so good?”

“The singin’?”

“The lyrics?”

“The outfits?”

“The _name_ , you dolts!”

Patsy snorted out a laugh, sitting down on the floor. “That sounds pretty skewed, Bobbo, but fine, alright, we can choose a name.”

“What about…like, our initials or something? JAN-BP?”

Bobbi fell onto the couch. “That’s _lame_! Be creative!”

“Girls’ Degeneration?”

Anna Marie tossed her towel at Natasha. “Way to be edgy, Romo.”

“You think I’m a cynic just for show?”

“Star…Sta…Star Singers…”

“Jan’s banned from coming up with names.”

XXXX

“So, Clint, you’re in charge of getting the costumes.” Tony said after the study session on Thursday the second Natasha was out of earshot. “You still have access to the theater department, right?”

“Yeah.” Clint slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Jan thought I was better suited for costume design then the actual dancing after like, six weeks. I can be in and out easy.”

Tony looked at Steve. “You should go with him.”

“Alright, bossy pants.” Steve smiled.

“Look, I’m just surprised and elated this shit is actually taking off. I thought as soon as Wilson joined we’d be doomed, but he’s surprisingly…really easy to work with.”

“Don’t let him hear that.” Bruce said, “That ego boost could turn him into a diva.”

“Good point.” Tony stood up. “Meet in the band room in ten minutes, we gotta run through the chorus again. Peter is consistently flat.”

XXXX

They came up with a name on Sunday, but it was brought up for change on Monday during rehearsal. Well, it was technically rehearsal, but they were in Patsy’s kitchen eating macaroni and cheese.

“Okay, I thought we were totally good with Lucid Dream?” Natasha said. She was frustrated now; they literally did no dancing or singing yesterday and spent all their time on the name.

“I thought, personally, it doesn’t have the right…air for us?” Jan said defensively. “I just think we can do better.”

“We know you can’t, though, Star Singers.” Anna Marie said bluntly.

“Okay, that’s a little mean…”

“I think the name is fine too, Jan.” Bobbi said. “What was Natasha’s justification for it again?”

“Our performance is an out of body experience.” Natasha waved her hands in an arc shape in front of her.

“It sounds like something Stark would come up with!” Jan pouted. “I wanted something cuter.”

“It definitely does not and I take full offense to that.”

“What’s Tony’s group called again?” Patsy asked.

XXXX

“Force Five?” Bruce said unenthusiastically walking with Tony and Steve to History on Wednesday. “That’s what you guys collectively agreed on?”

He had given up showing up to their rehearsals because, honestly, they were getting very into it and it was kind of scary. Even Steve, who is usually the voice of reason, was coming up with the majority of the choreography, last he heard.

Tony’s hands dropped to his sides in defeat. “It was a hit with the guys! They all loved it.”

“ _You_ loved it. I thought we could do better, but we were all sick of looking at each other so we dropped it.” Steve chimed in.

“I mean, sure, it’s cute. Middle school band cute.”

“Trust me, their ideas were even worse. Peter was dead set on LIFE*LESS. It had an asterisk, Bruce!”

Bruce chuckled, stopping in his tracks as a person rounded the corner and nearly skidded into him, Steve and Tony following suit.

Natasha nodded. “Hi Bruce, Steve, Stank.”

“Is that really catching on?”

“How’s rehearsal going?” Steve asked. Tony looked at him. “She’s the competition Rogers, which means no chit chat!”

Steve ignored him. “You guys aren’t working too hard, are you?”

Natasha waved her hand. “Nah, we’re fine. We’re actually taking the day off, since we’re so prepared.” She shot a smug smile at Tony, who was frowning aggressively.

“I’m excited to see it! I’ve heard good things from Jan.” Bruce said. Natasha shrugged, “It won’t be that great. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” She began to walk away, but stopped. “Oh, Tony? I got in touch with the Justice Academy boys. They’re really into seafood.” Natasha continued on, leaving Tony a rather steamed vegetable.

Steve took his hand. “Deep breaths, Tony, don’t get irrational.”

“Now, Steve, you know that’s a lot to ask of him.”

XXXX

Friday was here. It was time to shine.

Shockingly enough, there were five other acts that signed up for the talent show besides the battling pop groups and Alison Blaire. Bruce wasn’t expecting that.

He sat in the audience with Darcy and Jane on his left, and Bucky and Sam on his right. He last minute recruited them as his panel, since he couldn’t do this judging all by himself.

“Have any of them told you exactly what they’re doing?” Bucky whispered to him during the solo act of Doreen Green, which she was currently killing, to everyone’s surprise.

“Yeah, actually.” Bruce said, “How…have you not? Tony and Nat are way into this.”

“Steve said it was classified, which is the exact same thing Natasha said. I think they wanna surprise me.”

“No, they know you’ll crack jokes.” Sam interjected. “Or, you would’ve asked to join, but you know you have two left feet.”

“I hate you.”

“How come you’re not up there, Bruce?” Jane asked. “This sounds like the kind of shenanigans you’d be in the middle of.”

“I watched the process unfold. It was better if I left it up to them.”

“Once again, Doreen Green!” The emcee, Hank McCoy, drama club director, appeared on stage dressed in a vibrant blue suit. “Thank you. Everybody having fun tonight? We’ve had some great acts so far!” Hank said, attempting to hype up the crowd knowing very well they were all here just to see Alison’s final over-the-top performance.

“Up next we have the musical stylings of Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and our very own student body president and vice president Wade Wilson and Peter Parker, performing ‘She Blinded Me with Science’ by Thomas Dolby. Give it up for Force Five!”

“Oh dear God.” Darcy groaned, covering her face with her hands as the audience gave a polite, yet confused round of applause.

The five of them walked out on stage, dressed in white lab coats and safety goggles, arranging themselves into poses, mimicking that of N*SYNC.

“I now understand why Steve told Bucky nothing.” Jane nodded, covering her mouth as she laughed.

Wade burst into the first line of the song, the others dancing behind him. The crowd was clapping along by the first chorus, and cheering by the spoken verse, recited by Tony and Peter, who alternated lines.

When the music stopped and the last piece of the choreography came together, Tony and Clint did a quick bow with their bandmates and scurried off stage left, while Wade soaked up the rousing applause and cheers while looping his arms on the shoulders of Peter and Steve. Bruce was impressed; he could see how embarrassed Tony was, but they still did a pretty decent job. Making Wade the lead singer was for the best, since he gave less fucks than all of them combined.

The crowd was still roaring when the remaining three left the stage. This was gonna be hard for Natasha to top, which Bruce thought he would never admit.

“That…was good.” Sam said, mostly as a question. “What dimension is this?”

“Sure, it was very random, and littered with hip thrusts, but it…was entertaining.” Darcy added.

“One more time for Force Five!” Hank McCoy returned to the stage, the audience cheering.

“Where would that go on the scale?” Bruce said. They had decided on a scale to judge the reaction on before the show started, ranging from ‘polite applause’ to ‘second place, probably’.

“This is definitely ‘fangirls acquired’,” Darcy decided. “Or maybe a very high third place at the least.”

“I’m going with third place, too.” Bucky agreed, “I would go with second place just because you could see how much fun they were having.”

They all sat silent, faces confused.

“I’m a fan.” Jane said with a smile. “They did great.”

“Kicking off our remaining lineup of wonderful women is Bobbi Morse, Anna Marie Rogue, Natasha Romanoff, Janet Van Dyne, and Patsy Walker with a cover of the ever so classic ‘Potential Break Up Song’ by Aly & AJ, please welcome Lucid Dream!”

“That’s one way to dump a guy.” Sam nudged Bucky.

“Shut up! We’re fine!” Bucky said, his voice wavering slightly.

The music started before Hank McCoy was even off stage, Bobbi stepping out and singing the first half of the verse, followed by Natasha with the second, and Jan, Patsy, and Anna Marie joining them for the pre-chorus. Their routine relied more on dancing than singing, while it was opposite for Tony’s group (Bruce refused to call them Force Five as a way to protest the name).

The hype during their performance was more consistent than Tony’s, Bruce noted.

Remy LaBeau appeared from stage right, shredding on an electric guitar during the bridge. The crowd was loving it.

“Is that against the rules?” Darcy asked, clapping along with the rest of the audience. Bruce shrugged, “They didn’t establish any rules. Natasha exploited that loophole.”

“That’s my girl!” Bucky hollered.

Their song ended, the crowd cheering wildly. “Is it just me, or is this an almost identical reaction?” Darcy pointed out.

“Wouldn’t it be funny,” Sam said, “If we go back there, they’re all exhausted and just want to know who won the bet, but it just ended in a tie?”

“Sam, that’s just evil.” Jane said.

Bruce nodded. “Alright. I think we have a winner.”

XXX

Tuesday came, Natasha walking into the school hand in hand with Bucky and a triumphant grin on her face.

Before Bruce and company could go back stage to crown the winner, Lucid Dream took third place in the talent show, below Alison Blaire, and, shockingly, first place winner Doreen Green.

That meant her and her squad won the bet. Which was unfortunate, since Bruce was going to give it to Tony.

“You are so carefree right now.” Bucky smiled. “I have never seen you this content.”

“Tony Stark’s defeated face is gonna live on in my dreams for eternity.” She squeezed his hand. “That’s the highlight of my high school career.”

A few freshmen congratulated her on her performances as she continued down the hall with Bucky. Natasha was gonna ride his ethereal train for as long as she could.

“Nat!” Bobbi appeared from around the corner, running up to them.

“Jeez, Bob, what’s got you so frantic?” Bucky asked. Natasha nodded, folding her arms across her chest. “Yeah, we got third place, you should be floating on air.”

“I _was_ floating on air, until I got to the bathroom by the greenhouse.”

“Did someone try to grow a weed bush in the toilet again? They can’t keep believing these decade-old urban legends…”

“Jesus, Barnes, no one’s growing pot. I was in the bathroom with Patsy, because she does her makeup in that bathroom every morning since that one’s never crowded. So, I’m in the stall, and I find a balled up piece of paper—”

“—And you’re nosy.”

“Yes, I’m super nosy. I open it up, and it’s an unfinished sketch of Jan and Anna Marie.”

Natasha’s brows knitted in confusion. “Why would someone draw Jan and Anna Marie?”

“That’s what I’m saying! I see like, crossed out names in the margins. I show it to Patsy and the names are combinations of their names! Like that thing couples do.”

“Yeah, you guys tried to make ‘Nucky’ a thing. There was no effort with that.” Bucky said.

“So…someone drew Anna Marie and Jan, like they were a couple or something?” Natasha said slowly. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

“It gets better! Patsy showed it to Clint just a second ago, and he said there’s been some odd stuff happening with them, too. Some sophomore came up to Steve and asked him if he supported shipping him with Tony or Wade.”

“Shipping? Oh, God, I’m so confused now.”

Bobbi nodded. “I know! There’s some shit going on we don’t know about. We’re gonna all get together during lunch and investigate, make sure you’re there.”

The bell rang, Bobbi chiming off a quick goodbye as she high tailed it to Biology. Natasha looked at Bucky, her whole demeanor changed.

“Welp. I guess I’ll see you during free period?” He offered her a smile. She huffed out a laugh, leaning into Bucky’s chaste kiss on her cheek. “Don’t go off dating someone in your band. Let me know how this big lunch meeting goes.”

“Can do.” Natasha said as she walked up the stairs to Chemistry. Her light mood was gone. She was incredibly caught off guard now.

XXX

Their lunch table was packed today. It usually wasn’t.

The entirety of Force Five and Lucid Dreams, as well as Bruce, occupied a table in the back corner of the cafeteria, hunched over in hushed tones, except for Wade, who can only speak as if he’s always being talked over.

“Okay, first of all, what is shipping?” Steve asked, voice full of annoyance. “I’ve had too many underclassmen come up to me and tell me I’d be cute with Peter. I’m not dating Peter.”

“I’m insanely flattered, though, considering you’re way out of my league.” Peter added.

“Pete, don’t sell yourself short…”

“Polite rejection aside,” Wade said, standing at the head of the table. He cleared his throat. “‘Shipping’: short for relation _ship_ , primarily romantic but can also be platonic; the act of pairing up two people, usually characters from TV or other mediums of entertainment. Basically, in our case, there’s members of the student body who want two of us to date each other and think we look cute together.”

“That’s…so much.” Patsy said. “Like, way unnecessary. What even sparked this?”

“The talent show.” Bruce said plainly. “You guys are celebrities of some sort.”

“How? Alison Blaire still did better than us.” Jan said.

“No, no, it makes sense.” Wade said, “We’re a group of attractive people with some bit of talent. We’re new to the scene, shaking up the competition. I mean, c’mon, Doreen Green beat out Alison Blaire. This was the show of the year.”

“It still doesn’t justify why people wouldn’t pair Steve with me, the actual person he’s dating.” Tony said, mildly frustrated. “Do people not think we’re cute!?”

“Never fear, friends. I’ve called in an expert.” Wade waved his hands, showcasing a thin girl with deep skin and a bright smile.

“Spectators, meet Kamala Khan. Fanfiction and shipping extraordinaire. Also, we have European History together, and she told me all this stuff.”

“First of all, I’m a _huge_ fan.” Kamala said excitedly. “You guys are buzzing around the school.”

“Can you tell us why this all started?” Anna Marie asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Kamala nodded. “Right. I follow some freshmen on social media, they’re way more into shipping and stuff than I am, and they were the ones who sparked its popularity. It blew up over the weekend, and now it’s bleeding over to you guys. The most popular ship right now is Jan/Anna Marie, Steve/Peter being a close second. Then there’s some people who are super into cross-shipping the groups, mostly Tony/Natasha, Wade/Patsy, Clint/Bobbi, y’know. Oh! They’ve also put you guys into pop band archetypes.”

“At least we’re the popular one!” Jan smiled awkwardly at Anna Marie.

“I’m absolutely disgusted that I would be paired up with Tony.” Natasha said with a frown.

“You and me both, sister.” Tony scrunched his face together.

“Okay, wait, what are these archetypes?” Bruce asked.

“It’s the same for both groups. Wade and Anna Marie are the ‘Bad Boy/Bad Girl’, Steve and Patsy are the ‘Sensitive One’, Jan and Peter are the ‘Smart One’, Bobbi and Clint are the ‘Funny One’, and, naturally, Natasha and Tony are the leaders.”

“The Bad Boy!?” Wade shouted in disdain. “I’m mortified. I’m so tame and sweet it should be _illegal_.”

“Yeah, no, Clint isn’t funny.” Bobbi said, “It makes sense for me, not so much him.”

“Oh, bite me, you just make puns and Twitter memes in your spare time, Bobbo!”

“How am I sensitive?” Steve asked in mild disbelief.

“It makes sense; you cry at anything.” Tony leaned back in his chair, Steve throwing him a look.

The table erupted in conversations, arguing about their supposed archetype, the boundaries of this ‘shipping’ stuff.

“Alright, shut up, shut up!” Wade yelled, slamming a hand on the table. “Next item on the agenda: how the _fuck_ do we handle this?”

Kamala tilted her head in thought. “Well, as an outsider, your best bet is to just let it…run its course. The year is almost over. It can’t last that long.”

“Yeah, and we’re all graduating.” Bruce added. “You’ll just have a weird high school legacy to explain to your college friends. Besides, it’s mostly the underclassmen doing it.”

“I would love to tell a bunch of people I’m trying to impress about the time I was shipped with my girlfriend’s best friend because of a freaking talent show band.” Clint quipped.

“I’ll keep you guys updated on any other stuff I find out.” Kamala said, turning on her heels. She stopped, her eyebrows shooting up.

“Oh! I forgot. There _is_ fanfiction online about you guys. I don’t know where it is, I just heard that there is some.”

“Oh my God.”

XXX

On Wednesday, Clint uncovered the trove of fanfiction from the depths of the internet late that night. There were already twenty. It was unsettling how many…raunchy ones there were.

On Friday, Tony saw a freshman wearing a Force Five shirt, and that’s when he knew this had gone on long enough.

He slapped his books on the table in the library on Tuesday, almost two weeks since the talent show, and announced, “We’re putting an end to this. I’m officially uncomfortable.”

“You’re gonna track down the anonymous people who posted the stories and ask them politely to stop?” Natasha deadpanned.

“Yeah, Tony, you can’t really…stop it.” Bruce said. “Once the internet gets involved, it’s all over.”

“I asked the people making the shirts to stop printing them, though.” Steve chimed in, “They were kind of snarky about it, saying our brand isn’t patented, but one of them was nice and said they’d stop.”

“Oh no, Steve…” Tony sat down. “They’re not gonna stop.”

“Can’t we sue them? They’re selling our likeliness. They’re making a profit off of us.”

“You got money for a lawyer, Clint? We’re literally high schoolers.”

Tony groaned, throwing his head back. “This sucks! If this is what it means to be famous, I’ll pass. I don’t have the tolerance for this.”

“Kamala said it’ll pass, how long could that possibly take?” Bruce said. “People get bored fast, right?”

“I…wouldn’t bank on that.” Natasha said, pointing in front of her. “Look.”

Everyone followed the direction of her finger, spotting Bobbi, Patsy and Wade posing for a photo with some underclassmen. Patsy was mildly uncomfortable, while Wade and Bobbi were grinning ear-to-ear.

They all glanced at each other in a horrified silence.

“This is how it’s gonna be forever.” Clint said plainly.

“This is literally all Tony’s fault.”

“I…won’t argue that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey i know the avengers 2012 tag is pretty dry now that we all civil war asf (it was??? amazing) so thanks for reading! im gonna finish this idc
> 
> LINKS:
> 
> @bitterskywalker (twit) (new handle!)  
> vodkakun (tumblr)


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